Chinese gaming giant Tencent, in an effort to offset slowing growth at home due to strengthening regulations, is changing up its acquisition strategy.
According to Reuters, the conglomerate is now reportedly “aggressively seeking” to own majority or even controlling stakes in overseas game companies after years of investing in minority stakes and being a passive financial investor.
Tencent is already the world’s biggest video games company by revenue, with investments in more than 800 companies, including a 40% stake in Epic Games, and shares in Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Krafton, PlatinumGames, FromSoftware and Marvelous Inc.
However, it has only made a few full acquisitions such as Funcom, Riot Games, Sumo, Turtle Rock, Digital Extremes and Splash Damage. The report indicates that European gaming companies in particular are being pursued with this new approach.
The story comes as Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard remains a topic of conversation with UK and EU regulators investigating the deal. The likes of Google and Sony have voiced serious concerns over implications for gamers and the future of the gaming industry should that deal proceed.
Source: Reuters
