What game companies does Tencent own in the world?

Tencent is the largest game publisher in the world. It is the internet and entertainment mogul in China – the equivalent of Facebook or Google. But perhaps gamers around the world will know many names in which Tencent is holding some shares.

With more than 300 invested companies, updating the list of where Tencent owns shares is really quite a headache.

Below is a list of foreign gaming companies invested by Tencent, if applicable, including, exactly how much they own.

Riot Games (League of Legends) – 100%

In 2011, Tencent from publishing partner Riot Games in China became the main shareholder after paying $400 million to own 93% of the shares of the developer League of Legends. Four years later, Tencent took the remaining 7% stake for an undisclosed price, taking full control of Riot Games, as well as the League of Legends segment in particular.

Tencent’s acquisition of Riot is foretold. League of Legends is the most popular PC game in the world, bringing in $1.4 billion in revenue last year. Riot Games is still the decision maker for its game, but things are slowly changing. In order to increase revenue in the booming mobile game market, Tencent tried to convince Riot to develop a mobile version of League of Legends. When the developer refused, Tencent developed a clone named Arena of Valor on its own. Arena of Valor has become one of the most profitable mobile games in Asia – and Riot isn’t exactly happy about it. But this rift is now over. Now, Tencent has completely abandoned Arena of Valor in the West, and Riot is developing a mobile version for League of Legends. In general, Tencent’s acquisition of Riot has contributed to turning League of Legends into the king of esports.

Epic Games – 48.4%

Tencent invested $330 million in Epic Games since June 2012 – a move that has transformed the PC game market over the past decade, paving the way for free-to-play games. Realizing that the “old business model” of selling games was no longer working, Epic founder Tim Sweeney decided to partner with Tencent to learn how to operate live-service games. And it was successful.

With investment from Tencent, Epic removes the monthly fee from Unreal Engine 4 for free support – Epic receives a commission from the revenue. While a developer may have to pay more for a successful game in the long run, it does help the Unreal Engine gain access to the broader indie developer community. It sparked intense competition with rival engine Unity – until that time considered the best technology for small developers. At the same time, Epic began testing live-service games like Paragon and Fortnite: Save the World. While both games failed, Save the World provided the launch pad for Epic to jump into the battle royale race. Fortnite: Battle Royale inadvertently created the phenomenal pop culture phenomenon since Minecraft and Pokémon. Last year, Fortnite earned $2.4 billion, making it the most profitable game of that year.

Bluehole (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) – 11.5%

Tenbcent has just owned a part of Fortnite and PUBG, the two most popular battle royale games today. What’s more surprising is that they even own the rights to publish both games in China, which means Tencent is in competition with itself. Tencent’s investment in Bluehole dates back to 2017, when Tencent owned a 1.5% stake in Bluehole before increasing its investment undisclosed – rumored to be 10%. However, this is just the beginning, with sources saying that Tencent is looking to completely acquire Bluehole.

Ubisoft- 5%

Tencent was one of the many shareholders that helped Ubisoft survive last year’s acquisition from Vivendi – at the time Ubisoft’s largest shareholder. Over the years, Vivendi has steadily increased his stake in Ubisoft with the ambition of surpassing founder Yves Guillemot and taking control of the company – and firing thousands in the process. Things became murky until Ubisoft negotiated with Vivendi for the French corporation to divest investments for many shareholders, including Tencent.

However, as part of the condition, Tencent is just a silent partner who cannot increase voting rights or ownership at Ubisoft – making Tencent’s acquisition of Ubisoft almost impossible. The purchase of a share of Ubisoft also heralds a new partnership tactic: Tencent will publish Ubisoft games in China.

Activision Blizzard – 5%

Years before Ubisoft, Tencent also helped another company get rid of Vivendi: Activision Blizzard. Acitivision fell into the hands of Vivendi in 2007, when the company merged with Vivendi Games to join Blizzard and benefit greatly from the success of World of Warcraft. Five years later, merger company Activision Blizzard announced it was buying Vivendi’s stake in the company and becoming independent. Tencent jumped in immediately to buy back a 5% stake in the company at an undisclosed price.

Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) – 80%

In 2018, Tencent acquired a majority stake in New Zealand game developer Grinding Gear Games, best known for its Path of Exile title. The acquisition spooked the Path of Exile community. They fear that the Chinese publisher will adopt stronger microtransaction policies or change the economy in the game altogether. However, like many other acquisitions of Tencent, Grinding Gear Games is independent in operating Path of Exile. After a year, Path of Exile’s economy and microtransaction have not changed much, while the game continues to expand.

Other notable prefixes

Supercell – 84.3%: Tencent invested $8.6 billion in the Finnish mobile game developer, in one of the largest acquisitions in gaming history. But considering that 60% of Tencent’s game revenue ($19.13 billion) last year came from mobile, and Supercell’s flagships like Clash of Clans, the acquisition is well worth it. Like Riot Games, Supercell is almost independently operated and still operates in Finland.

Frontier Development – ​​9%: Tencent invested £17.7 million in the developers of two titles: Elite Dangerous and Planet Zoo in 2017. It is part of a partnership strategy to increase market share in “parks” games in China.

Kakao – 13.5%: Kakao as Internet and entertainment company in Korea with subsidiaries developing blockbuster Black Desert Online. Kakao revenue exceeded $ 1 billion last year and are released PUBG in Korea.

Paradox Interactive – 5%: When Paradox, the Swedish strategy game company, first went public in 2016, Tencent bought a 5% stake for $21 million. Part of the deal is due to Steven Ma, head of Tencent Games, also is a fan of veteran Hearts of Iron 2.

Fatshark – 36%: The success of Warhammer: Vermintide 2 led Tencent to buy the majority of the Swedish developer’s small shareholders in early 2019, for an estimated $56 million USD.

Funcom – 29%: Tencent’s latest deal is to own 29% of Funcom, game developer Conan Exiles and The Secret World.

Sharkmob – 100%: This new studio includes former development members of The Division and Hitman, which was completely acquired by Tencent in early 2019. However, until now the studio has not announced its first game.

Discord: Discord received $ 158 million investment last year, including Tencent (and other investors).

In addition, Tencent also owns a 39.7% stake in the Southeast Asian esports and game publisher, as well as a majority stake in webgame publisher Miniclip, and half of the minor shareholders in many mobile game companies. new.