In the wake of Blizzardgate, a lot of gaming consumers are wondering just where their money is going.
It’s no secret that China has a heavy stake in the United States entertainment market.
Chinese Companies Have Big Stake in Gaming
Chinese companies like Perfect World, who own Cryptic Studios, have been involved in western gaming for many years.
Cryptic Studios developed the popular MMO games Star Trek Online and Neverwinter.
Another huge Chinese company, Tencent, has a huge stake in multiple companies.
Tencent is said to be the world’s largest gaming company, and one of the world’s most important technology companies.
It is also one of the world’s largest social media companies, and one of the biggest venture capital firms and investment corporations.
Tencent’s Reach
Tencent has a big hand in many services like social-network, music, web portals, e-commerce, mobile games, internet services, payment systems, smartphones, multiplayer online games, and the film industry with its branch, Tencent Pictures.
Recently, the website PC gamer compiled a list of companies and services that Tencent has a stake in:
- Riot Games (League of Legends) – 100%
- Sharkmob – 100%
- Supercell – 84.3%
- Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) – 80%
- Epic Games – 40%
- Fatshark – 36%
- Funcom – 29%
- Kakao – 13.5%
- Bluehole (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) – 11.5%
- Frontier Developments – 9%
- Ubisoft – 5%
- Activision Blizzard – 5%
- Paradox Interactive – 5%
Surprised? The Chinese influence is real, folks.
Tencent and Disney → Star Wars
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Tencent have agreed to a distribution deal that would bring Star Wars to China.
The distribution deal is the first of its kind, allowing Tencent’s China Literature, the Middle Kingdom’s largest e-books and online reading platform, to license and distribute 40 translated Star Wars novels for Chinese readers.
The partnership was unveiled in Shangai late Wednesday.
It will also entail the two companies working together to develop and publish the world’s first authorized Star Wars online novel written by a Chinese author.
China Literature claims a remarkable 217.1 million monthly active users across its platforms, which include powerhouse services Qidian.com and QQ Reading.
During a promotional period running until Oct. 22, all 40 of the licensed Star Wars novels are being made available to Chinese users to read for free.
Tencent Investments
How about that thread you saw on Reddit, or the great Discord convo you had with your friends the other day?
Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news.
Reddit received $150 Million investment by Tencent earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Discord received $158 million in funding last year by Tencent.
This list should remind people that in many ways, our entertainment is controlled.
No longer is it made for fun or to provide people an escape, it is made to further foreign interests and agenda.
What do you think readers?
Are we allowing foreign interests too much latitude to shape our culture?
Comment below.