South Korean mobile games publisher Gamevil made good on its pledge to invest in the apps market with an equity investment in start-up Relax Games.

When announcing its results for the second quarter of the year, in which it reported record overseas revenue, Gamevil stated that its future strategy will include “aggressive acquisitions, investments, and partnerships”.

The investment is part of a publishing contract for games developed by Relax. The deal means Relax Games is the first company to take part in Gamevil’s Companion initiative to invest in start-ups and expand its Gamevil Circle integrated service platform.

“The investment will not only strengthen the quality of our games, but provide a good measure on how developers and publishers can collaborate together,” said Relax Games CEO Il Seung Lee.

The first game from the partnership will be a social network strategy game pencilled in to launched later in the year, which will feature live production and services.

Gamevil has seen more than 300 million game downloads and has published hundreds of games on multiple platforms.

The company is looking to expand its presence in China through publishing relationships with Tencent and Qihoo 360. It also plans to improve social network integration through Facebook, KakaoTalk and LINE.