The purchase of Shift Up shares makes Tencent the second largest shareholder in the Korean studio.
The deal indicates that Tencent is on the verge of exerting more influence over global video games, as it seeks to offset sluggish growth in China.
Tencent Holdings has acquired a 20% stake in a South Korean video game studio Shift Up, as the operator of the world’s largest video game business continues to buy game assets in overseas markets, according to a news release. report. Tencent becomes the second largest shareholder of Shift Up, the studio behind the hit mobile game Goddess of Victory: Nikke, after founder Kim Hyung Tae. According to a report by Korean media Money Today Network, this is an important event that shows the ability to expand foreign investment of the Chinese game company.
Tencent continues to invest outside.
The report said Tencent bought a stake before the hit game was officially released in November, without specifying an exact date or financial terms of the deal. Tencent did not comment on this information.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke is a role-playing shooting game developed by Shift Up and published by Tencent’s video game publishing division, Level Infinite. This game has become a global hit game after its launch on November 4.
In its first month of release, the product grossed over $100 million in sales and took the fourth place among all mobile games in terms of revenue earned from the Apple App Store and the Google Play store, according to the report. data from analytics company SensorTower. Most of the revenue comes from players in Japan, Korea, and the US.
The deal shows Tencent is on its way to exerting more influence over global video games, taking ownership, holding shares or reaching partnership agreements with the developers of four of the five. The most profitable game in the world. Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile took first and third place in terms of global video game revenue in November, developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studio team and LightSpeed Studios, respectively.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke attracts a large number of players.
Tencent also partnered with UK-based King Digital Entertainment, the fifth largest game developer by revenue, Candy Crush Saga, to launch the Chinese version of the popular mobile game in 2014. The investment also reflects Tencent’s larger efforts to strengthen its overseas presence as it seeks new growth to offset the slowdown caused by the ongoing slowing economy on the mainland.
The company has made at least a dozen investments with foreign game studios in the past year. It is the largest shareholder of Ubisoft Entertainment, the largest French game developer. Tencent also bought a 16.25% stake in Japanese role-playing game developer FromSoftware in August. Tencent posted a 2% drop in third-quarter revenue, marking its second quarterly decline since since the company was first listed in 2004. Profits grew only 1% to 39.9 billion yuan ($5.72 billion), as the company continued to suffer the knock-on effects of regulatory policies. The country’s Covid-19 control has only been eased this month.
