Tencent Games () is the

video game publishing A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, itself a division of

Tencent Holdings Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the ...

. It has five internal studio groups, including

TiMi Studio Group TiMi Studio Group (), a subsidiary of Tencent Games, is a video game development studio group headquartered in Shenzhen, China and offices in Singapore, Montréal, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chengdu, and Shanghai. TiMi generated an estimated revenue ...

. Tencent Games was founded in 2003 to focus on

online game An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and s ...

s. In 2021, it launched its international Level Infinite brand, which is stated to be operated from its

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

office.

History

Tencent Games published its first game ''QQ Tang'' () in 2004, which is based on its social media platform QQ. This was soon followed by QQ variant games such as ''

Dungeon Fighter Online ''Dungeon Fighter Online'' (''DFO''), known in South Korea as ''Dungeon & Fighter''. (''DNF''), is a multiplayer beat 'em up action role-playing game, developed and published for personal computers by Neople, a South Korean subsidiary of Nexon, ...

'', a side-scrolling online

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) leve ...

game; ''QQ Fantasy'', a 2D online game that incorporates elements from Chinese mythology; ''Xunxian'', a 3D, online RPG; ''QQ Sanguo'', an online casual role-playing game set during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period; ''QQ Huaxia'', an online RPG; ''QQ Dancer'', an online musical dancing game that offers QQ IM interactivity; ''QQ Nanaimo'', an online game set on a desert island where players maintain houses and pets; ''QQ Speed'', a casual online racing game; ''QQ R2Beat'', an online in-line skating game; ''QQ Tang'', an "advanced casual game" with gameplay derived from Chinese literature; ''QQ PET'', and a QQ IM-based desktop virtual pet game.Products and Services > Interactive Entertainment Service
Tencent official Site In August 2013, Tencent Games published

Hi-Rez Studios Hi-Rez Studios is an American video game company. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris. Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter ''Global Agenda'', the critically acclaimed '' Tribes: Ascend'', the third- ...

's Smite in Mainland China. Tencent gradually turned to mobile gaming in 2013. A game center with a sizable mobile game user base was launched by Mobile QQ and

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has b ...

in the upcoming years. In order to become the biggest online gaming firm in the world, the company concentrated on the global gaming market, investing in or aggressively purchasing foreign game companies. In 2015, Tencent Games published a

multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that ...

game ''

Honor of Kings ''Honor of Kings'' (, unofficially translated as "King of Glory," or alternatively transliterated as Wangzhe Rongyao) is a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Tencent Games for the iOS and Android mo ...

'' () exclusively for the Mainland China markets developed by the L1 division of TiMi Studio Group, and by 2017 was both the world's most popular and highest-grossing game of all time as well as the most downloaded app globally. Tencent Games also released, under the brand Level Infinite, an international version of ''Honor of Kings'' named ''

Arena of Valor ''Arena of Valor'' (), formerly ''Strike of Kings'', is an international adaptation of ''Honor of Kings'' (), a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Level Infinite for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch ...

'' in 2017. In 2011, Tencent Games started hosting

online multiplayer game A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

s such as ''

Call of Duty Online ''Call of Duty Online'' (also known as ''CODOL, CODO, and Call of Duty: Online'', zh, , p=Shǐmìng zhàohuàn Online, s=使命召唤Online) was a free, online first-person shooter video game developed by Activision Shanghai and Raven Software. ...

'', consisting of previous

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold War, futuristic ...

titles with added content, as well as the game ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...

''. Tencent Games partly owns

battle royale game A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who st ...

s such as ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...

'' and fully own '' Ring of Elysium''. Starting in 2016, Tencent Games developed a video gaming console dubbed TGP (Tencent Gaming Platform) Box. The TGP BOX is called the Blade. It is an Intel-powered console running Windows 10 and a TGP Box mode. So far, the TGP console has imported many Tencent games, such as ''League of Legends'', ''FIFA Online 3'', ''NBA 2K'', ''Monster Hunter'', ''Need for Speed'', and ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds''. Tencent Games hopes to bring third-party developed games. On 22 November 2017, Tencent Games formally entered into a strategic co-operation with PUBG Studios and obtain exclusive rights to operate ''Playerunknown's Battlegrounds'' in China. In April 2017, Tencent Games unveiled its flagship gaming platform,

WeGame WeGame is the flagship game portal of the Chinese company Tencent. History In April 2017, Tencent unveiled ''WeGame'' which will host games, content, and services from all over the world and will provide gaming info, purchases, downloads, live s ...

which will host games, content, and services from all over the world and will provide gaming info, purchases, downloads, live streaming, and community services, creating an open ecosystem for

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

. ''WeGame'' is an upgraded version of TGP (Tencent Games Platform) that already has more than 200 million active users (compared to

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

's 125 million in 2015) and over 4.5 billion downloads. It will be dedicated to both global developers and players and will assist developers who require help with translation. The gaming platform will support both Chinese and global users through a single storefront and is due to go online on 1 September 2017, Tencent Games has stated that the platform will focus on PC and standalone games and will no longer host web or mobile games, and will provide support to small and indie companies. Aside from mainstream games, the company has promised to also launch titles which include ''

Stardew Valley ''Stardew Valley'' is a simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who takes over their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game wa ...

'', ''

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...

'', '' Portal Knights'', ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before b ...

'', '' Cities: Skylines'', with 170 games promised by the end of 2017. Tencent Games plans to increase its advertising revenues through artificial intelligence and branded virtual costumes in its video games. On 18 March 2019, Tencent announced that its subsidiary,

, would develop Activision's Call of Duty: Mobile. The game was released worldwide on 1 October 2019. As of 4 October 2019, the game has surpassed 35 million downloads and over $2 million in revenue. PUBG Mobile and its Mainland China version topped the global mobile games chart by revenue, raking in a combined US$232 million of sales in March 2020, as many people turned to online entertainment during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Honor of Kings is ranked as the second highest-earning game globally, generating US$112 million in revenue. In July 2021, Tencent Games implemented a facial recognition system called "Midnight Patrol" in China to limit minors' access to games during curfew hours. In December 2021, Tencent Games launched a new game publishing brand under ''Level Infinite,'' merging the ''Proxima Beta'' video games to this brand name''.'' The focus of the brand is marketing, events, and

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional sports, professional players, individually or as ...

for the video game studios of the Interactive Entertainment Group division. The area served is global and includes titles from subsidiaries that belong to the Interactive Entertainment Group or have a partnership which includes the developers ''

'', ''LightSpeed Studios''. ''Sharkmob'', ''Mighty Kingdom'', ''Fatshark'', '' Shengqu Games'', ''Next Studios'', ''The Outsiders'', ''10 Chambers'', and ''Funcom'' as of 8 December 2021. The Initial games published under the brand include ''

'' created by the TiMi-J6 development division of TiMi Studio Group, ''Synced'' developed by Next Studios, and Don't Starve: Newhome developed by ''Shengqu Games.''

Divisions

Aurora Studio Group

Launched in 2007, based in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. Games include ''Moonlight Blade'' (), ''Iron Knight'', ''Azure War:'' () ''Name of the Nature, Light and Night.''

LightSpeed Studios

Launched in 2008, based in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

with the pre-fusion name Quantum Studios. The initial video games with the studio group release were QQ Huaxia & Freedom Fantasy. In 2011, LightSpeed was founded; marking today's LightSpeed — Lightspeed & Quantum Studio Group brand name outside of

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

is LightSpeed Studios. The following divisions belong to, were acquired or created within the LightSpeed Studios, and are classified as subsidiaries of LightSpeed Studios. * ''LightSpeed LA'' — founded in 2020. The first studio outside of

for LightSpeed Studios. The studio's office is in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, Irvine. The studio director is Steve Martin. After the press releases, the subsidiary focuses on the first narrative-based, open-world IPs for an. unannounced 'next-gen console'. * Uncapped Games — belong since 2021. * S•Studio * Happy Studio — founded in 2014. * TiKi Studios * Anyplay Studio * LightSpeed Tech Centre * Art Monkey Gang * Design Monkey Gang

Morefun Studios

Launched in 2010, based in Shanghai. Games include: ''The Roco Kingdom'' (), ''Naruto Online''

NExT Studios

Launched in 2017, based in Shanghai. Games include: ''Unheard'', ''SYNCED: Off-Planet''

TiMi Studio Group

Launched in 2014, based in Shenzhen. Games include: ''Honor of Kings (Arena of Valor)'', ''QQ Speed'', ''Call of Duty: Mobile''

Tencent Institute of Games

The Tencent Institute of Games was founded in 2016 as a company initiative to nurture talent and professional development, and promote knowledge sharing in the game industry. The division head is Xia Lin (Sammi). It has incubated games including Nishan Shaman and The Everlasting Regret. It cooperates with multiple universities and set up an enterprise college cooperative education model for game talent. The annual Tencent Games Developers Conference is held by this division.

References

External links

*
Level Infinite
{{Tencent Tencent divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies of China Video game companies established in 2003 Chinese companies established in 2003 Companies based in Shenzhen