China’s Tencent will release its most popular game, “Honor of Kings,” all over the world.
Hong Kong (Reuters) – China’s Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY) announced on Wednesday that it will release its most popular mobile game, “Honor of Kings,” all over the world by the end of the year. This is part of the company’s move to become a global gaming giant.
The Shenzhen company’s multiplayer action game, which is mostly played in China, has always been its most profitable. From the time it came out in 2015 until September of last year, it made $10 billion, according to data firm Sensor Tower.
Tencent’s launch of the highest-grossing game outside of China shows that the company wants to grow internationally because the domestic market has become very competitive and has been hurt by strict regulations.
Since June of last year, China’s gaming regulator has not given any new game licences to Tencent in China. The world’s largest gaming company, Tencent, was not among the 60 game licences that were given out on Tuesday.
Tencent said in May that its domestic sales dropped 1% in the first quarter, while its sales outside of China went up 4%.
Sensor Tower says that “Honor of Kings,” which has more than 95 percent of its users in China, was the top-grossing game in the world in April. Players spent more than $274 million on the game, which is up 6.2% from a year ago.
The company put out “Arena of Valor,” an international version of “Honor of Kings,” in 2016, but it wasn’t a big hit. This time, it will put out the same game played in China.
The international version will be released under Tencent’s new Singapore-based brand Level Infinite, which was created last year to help Tencent release games outside of China.
