Marvelous has cancelled a long-running Story of Seasons mobile game after ending its six-year business alliance with Tencent. The project had been in development under a licensing agreement signed in March 2019.
Tencent stopped development after reviewing the market and the game’s expected profitability. The mobile title never received a release date despite being announced more than seven years ago.
Tencent’s NExT Studios was developing the game for smartphones. Marvelous provided the Story of Seasons licence, while Tencent handled development, publishing and operation.
The companies announced the project in 2019 and showed gameplay in 2021. It included farming, fishing, animal care, character relationships and other familiar parts of the series.
Updates became less frequent after that presentation, and the game never launched. Marvelous has now confirmed that development has officially ended.
Marvelous formed a capital and business alliance with Tencent subsidiary Image Frame Investment in May 2020. The partnership aimed to create new properties, support new businesses and expand Marvelous franchises outside Japan.
Image Frame Investment owned just over 20% of Marvelous and was its largest shareholder. Tencent later reviewed its investments and decided to sell most of those shares.
The alliance officially ended on July 31, 2026. Marvelous plans to buy back some shares, while SBI Securities and other Japanese companies are expected to acquire additional holdings.
The end of the alliance does not cancel every agreement between the companies. Marvelous said the 2019 Story of Seasons mobile licence and other individual contracts remain active.
However, the mobile game already shown during development will not be released. Marvelous has not said whether Tencent could create a different Story of Seasons project under the remaining agreement.
The cancellation only affects Tencent’s mobile game. Marvelous still owns Story of Seasons and plans to continue the farming series through new releases, remakes and spin-offs.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar remains the franchise’s latest major game. It launched in 2025 before reaching PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in May 2026.
Marvelous said the game continued to sell steadily during its latest financial quarter. The company is also working with a wider range of international partners instead of depending on one major alliance.
