How many hours a day did you spend playing video games when you were a kid? If Tencent's new policy is any guide towards China's emerging gaming regulations, the likely answer to that question for future generations will be precisely '2 hours.' Earlier this week Tencent, China's largest gaming company and the owner of international hits like League of Legends, [...]
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It has been a bruising month for Chinese gaming hegemon Tencent. First, their US based subsidiary Riot Games was accused of sexism which required major readjustments at the studio. These culture problems also brought to light Riot's declining profitability, with the company on course to run a deficit unless something changes soon. Closer to home, Tencent found itself on the [...]
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Square Enix announced today that they signed a letter of intent to forge a strategic alliance with Chinese gaming juggernaut Tencent. While there aren't too many details about the deal just yet, but the official announcement suggests creating a joint venture to develop new 'Triple-A' titles based on new and existing IP. "The alliance will enable us to couple our [...]
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Amidst an ongoing government shake up, China's content regulators have inadvertently put the approval of new games on indefinite hold until further notice. Home to what is the biggest market in the gaming industry, China's freeze on new games is not only affecting local industry players, but causing headaches for overseas publishers as well. While there has been no official [...]
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The Chinese gaming juggernaut Tencent has acquired a majority stake in New Zealand based Grinding Gear Games, best known as the studio behind the Action-RPG Path of Exile. Tencent now owns 80% of Grinding Gear Games, but no dollar figures were released. We'll likely get those numbers during Tencent's next earnings report. In the mean time, GGG says Tecent's invest [...]
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Several sources covering the Chinese gaming market bring us a very interesting story this morning. A new PC title called Teemo's Adventure has been approved for sale in China. The official statement, screencapped by Mr. Ahmad, lists Riot Games and Tencent as the developer/publisher. Teemo is one of the most iconic champions in League of Legends. While there has been [...]
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PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is finally getting an official Chinese release. PUBG has been available to Chinese players since its Early Access launch back in March through Steam, but it had never been official sanctioned by Chinese authorities. Those issues can be put to rest since Tencent has secured the license to publish the game in China. Tencent had been gunning for [...]
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Just last month, Tencent had begun imposing time restrictions on its mega-hit game Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings) in China, thanks to increasing concern from Chinese officials and the general public from recent game-related incidents that had taken place. According to the new time restrictions imposed, children under the age of 13 were only allowed 1 hour of daily [...]
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Update: Bluehole has denied these rumors. No investment has been made. Bluehole commented “These reports are not accurate. Tencent didn't make an investment into Bluehole.” Last week, Chinese news sources reported that Tencent had taken a stake in Korean MMO studio Bluehole. According to the report, the Chinese tech giant tried to buyout the privately held Korean firm but was [...]
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Our favorite Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent has another target in its sights. A report by tech industry news source The Information claims the Finnish studio Rovio, best known for their Angry Birds franchise, could be bought out for $3 billion. The Information sites 'people briefed on the situation' as its sources and claims that this is no done deal. Rovio [...]
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