Tencent Shares Up After Partnering with the Pokémon Company
Share prices of Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent surged as much as HK369.80 ($47.33), up by more than 3% on Wednesday.
Tencent Holding Ltd. said it will develop an untitled “Pokémon” game in partnership with The Pokémon Company, backed by Nintendo.
The two companies announced the decision to work together in developing new games—speculatively, more titles in the Pokémon franchise.
Currently, there are no specific announcements on exactly what genre of games both companies are going to develop. However, given that Tencent dominates the mobile and PC game industry of China, fans expect upcoming releases for those platforms.
Tencent disclosed the information about the team-up after an unofficial Pokémon game went viral this month. The Chinese gaming industry received Let’s Go Pokémon, which was developed by a Shenzhen tech company, extremely well. However, consumers still sought for an official version of the game.
Furthermore, netizens voiced their shock at the new-found alliance after Tencent garnered criticism for releasing a game closely similar to Pokémon Go.
In April of this year, the Chinese gaming giant released Let’s Hunt Monsters. The game incorporates the same monster-capture and prize collection mechanics while exploring the real-world locations as Niantic’s Pokémon Go.
Let’s Hunt Monsters soared to the top ranks of the Chinese free mobile app charts, according to Sensor Tower, a mobile app analysis platform.
Worth noting is Tencent’s recent deal with Nintendo, part-owner and a distributor of The Pokémon Company and its products.
Nintendo plans to bring the Nintendo Switch into the Chinese market by officially launching the device via Tencent’s efforts.
In an official post on its Weibo blog, Tencent said that its TiMi Studio will oversee the development of the new yet-to-be-described Pokémon game.
Tencent’s Continuous Influence on the Gaming Industry
TiMi Studio developed and released Honor of Kings (AKA Arena of Valor) in 2016.
The game, which falls under the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre, has a record of 400 million downloads worldwide.
Tencent, although not many are aware of it, is one of, if not the largest gaming company in the world. The Chinese gaming giant is also the parent company of League of Legends developer Riot Games, stakeholder of Fortnite maker Epic Games, and owner of Supercell, known for its hit mobile strategy game Clash of Clans.
Tencent also has holdings in the popular game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which is arguably the first game to have popularized the genre.
Game Streaming and Market Reach
The gaming tech giant has been increasingly reaching out to different markets in its efforts to expand and diversify its genres.
Reportedly, the firm has also been testing its own game streaming service, which is branded as Start.
While on the subject of streaming, Tencent has also recently funded Antstream Arcade, a London-based startup which developed the first “Netflix for retro games.”
Anstream is the first “retro game streaming subscription service” and is now available in the UK. Anstream will also eventually launch in Asia, according to CEO Steven Cottam.
Furthermore, Tencent will be streaming the NBA 2K19 League Playoff and Finals game to Chinese gaming consumers. This will be a first for the Chinese gaming industry as the company steps up to be a distribution partner.
Fascinatingly, Tencent has been perhaps spearheading the endeavor of diversifying the gaming sector. Many fans believe that continuous innovation and unwavering support for the e-sports and gaming industry is the key to its growth and development.
Tencent, evident from its recent business decisions, is now taking advantage of that.
