Tencent has made more than 180 strategic investments in the gaming business last year – well ahead of technology giants like Apple and Sony.
Tencent invested $32.2 billion in gaming companies as compared with $18.2 billion by Sony and $15.3 billion by Apple in investments, news report from Nikkei Asia indicates, quoting data from research firm Newzoo.
Tencent invested in gaming companies in the US, Europe and South Korea.
Data from ITjuzi compiled by Nikkei shows that 40 percent of Tencent’s investment deals in the first half of 2022 were outside China, a large jump from the 18 percent share for all of 2021.
Tencent took this route to avoid larger scrutiny, as it is a Chinese firm.
Tencent’s portfolio includes Riot Games, creator of League of Legends; Finnish mobile game developer Supercell, Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite; and South Korea’s Krafton, best known for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
Sony this month closed the $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, the developer of Destiny and the original creator of the hugely popular Halo franchise.
The Sony-Bungie acquisition evaded the antitrust scrutiny while Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard is facing formal investigations in the US, the UK and South Korea.
Tencent’s investments in the gaming sector come as its acquisitions have attracted closer scrutiny from regulators in the US and China.
The ongoing gaming license freeze in China has intensified competition between platforms as hosts are running out of content to talk about.
Tencent in April announced to shut down its game streaming platform Penguin Esports by June due to changes in business strategies.
