Riot Games, a Los Angeles-based games publisher, on Wednesday announced it snatched $8 million in a new round of funding, bringing the startup’s total financing to $15 million.

The second round of venture funding was led by Tencent, a Chinese Internet company that counts over 448 million active users in China, and returning backers Benchmark Capital and First Mark Capital.

The startup, founded in 2006, develops online next-generation titles for consoles, mobile devices, and PCs.  Riot is about to launch its first role playing game, League of Legends, into European and North American markets, followed by a launch in Asia.

Tencent had already agreed to publish the company’s games in China.

Unlike other games that require a monthly subscription to play online or a physical disc, Riot’s games will be offered free of charge online with gaming sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes.

“Although still nascent in western markets, Riot’ssession-based, free-to-play, virtual item-based business model is by far the most popular business model for monetizing games in Asia,” the company said in a statement.

The company plans to make money through the sale of virtual goods that enhance the user’s characters or avatars.