Lionsgate invests in video game company Telltale

“Hunger Games” studio Lionsgate has made a significant investment in video game developer and publisher Telltale Games, paving the way for the companies to collaborate on new games and TV shows.

Santa Monica-based Lionsgate invested about $40 million for a minority stake in Telltale, according to a person briefed on the deal. That’s Lionsgate’s largest investment in a video game company to date.

The film studio’s chief executive, Jon Feltheimer, will join the board of directors of Telltale, which is headquartered in San Rafael, Calif.

The move brings Lionsgate further into the video game space and will let the companies work together to develop episodic games and television programming based on new and existing entertainment titles, the companies said.

Telltale has already made games based on the hit shows “The Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones.” The episodic “Walking Dead” game has sold 8.5 million copies, Telltale said.

Besides the popular “Hunger Games” series, Lionsgate’s film properties include the young-adult “Divergent” series, with the second installment, “Insurgent,” coming out in March. Other recent Lionsgate films include “John Wick” and “Mordecai.”

Lionsgate has recently been active in the video game space.

Last year, it hired former Nerdist Industries chief Peter Levin to lead its interactive ventures and games division.

The company previously invested in Finnish game-maker Next Games.

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