French videogame maker Ubisoft said on Thursday it has set up a subsidiary in which China's Tencent will invest 1.16 billion euros ($1.25 billion).

In an effort to save itself after a few rocky years, Ubisoft is opening a new subsidiary with investment from Tencent that will focus on a trio of games.

Ubisoft shares surged on Friday after the French video game publisher announced a deal to spin out some of its best-selling franchises.