Tencent Holdings, a Chinese multinational technology, and video game firm, discussed the prospects for worldwide expansion for its gaming business following the conclusion of the four-day Tencent Game Developers Conference, which got underway on Sunday. This occurs at a time when the Chinese video game industry is subject to the toughest rules and must adhere to onerous licensing procedures.
Tencent is reportedly looking into ways to grow its business abroad, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. The popularity of several Chinese games is increasing, thanks in part to the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Considering the size of the market for video games The vice president of Tencent Games, Xia Lin, noted that these markets had seen more game downloads than China. Tencent’s most played game outside of China at the moment is the smartphone game PUBG Mobile, which has a definite download edge and 15 million daily active users there.
The playtime restriction rules in China played a pivotal role in the slowdown of the video game market
A significant factor in the decline of the video game market in China is the playtime restriction laws that are in place there for players under the age of 18. These regulations were put in place by the Chinese government to lessen kids’ addiction to video games, which is why businesses like Tencent are subject to greater regulatory oversight. Additionally, getting a licence to publish new games has grown more challenging.
Domestic gaming industry revenue in China fell short of the 8.3% growth in the first half of 2021, slipping 4.25 percent during the period compared to a year earlier. The number of gamers in China decreased to 665.69 million at the end of June from 666.57 million in December, according to a report by the Game Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, and the sector’s overall income decreased to 1.8%.
The growth of Tencent’s video games in the international market has been very promising
In overseas markets like Latin America and Southeast Asia, mobile games by Tencent like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Honor of Kings are doing exceptionally well, thus fuelling the prospect of the worldwide expansion of their gaming business. However, because of their slowing growth, these games aren’t doing well in China. Even though the domestic market’s revenue fell by 1%, Tencent’s revenue increased by 4% in the first quarter of 2022.
Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile raked in a combined US$2.889 billion in revenue during the first seven months of 2022, according to statistics from US analytics company Sensor Tower. Tencent is concentrating on planning more conference sessions and recruiting more foreign speakers to its annual game developers conference as a result of the company’s international commercial expansion. According to Yang, operation head for Call of Duty: Mobile, “Garena Free Fire swiftly snatched the market and fared well in Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and North America.”
The future of the Chinese gaming industry appears dismal at a time when the global gaming and esports markets are booming. Chinese-based massive corporations like Tencent are looking to seize the chance by increasing their investments in the global gaming business.
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