Tencent has denied a recent report that claimed its overseas marketing and sales team for Arena of Valor was disbanded following the game’s lacklustre performance in Western markets.

The Chinese publisher had big hopes for the game, which is a Westernised version of its multi-billion dollar hit Honor of Kings, China’s top grossing game.

But the title has failed to make much of an impact on the top grossing charts in the US and other Western countries. A recent Reuters report claimed that Tencent had changed its original plans for the game and disbanded the marketing team in Europe and the US.

Tencent denial

However speaking to Bloomberg, Tencent’s overseas marketing director for Arena of Valor and its TiMi Studio Group, Vincent Gao, denied the marketing team had been let go.

He claimed the publisher never had a European team and that it was actually recruiting more developers in America.

No mention was made of the company’s strategy on Arena of Valor, however. Instead, Gao discussed the company’s plans for Call of Duty Mobile, which it aims to roll out across the US, Latin America and Europe.

The game, developed in partnership with Activision Blizzard, is currently in beta testing.

Tencent will be at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong on July 17th and 18th. Head to the website for more details on the conference.