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WeChat growth boosts Tencent to #2 on chart of top global publishers by download

Only EA had more volume says App Annie

WeChat growth boosts Tencent to #2 on chart of top global publishers by download

As many have hoped (or feared), the opening up of Tencent's WeChat platform for mobile games is having a big impact on the Chinese market.

With around 200 million users in China, the mobile messaging service is going the way of KakaoTalk in Korea and LINE in Japan, allowing developers to release custom versions of their games that integrate the social network and thus gain massive virality.

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In the case of Tencent, however, it's keeping a tight rein on which games are being released.

To-date, it's only been Tencent's own titles such as WeRun (aka Cool Running Everyday), as well as some western titles such as EA's Plants vs Zombies 2.

And it's WeRun that's been the key breakout hit.

Generating a peak of $1 million daily or $16 million in its launch month, it's been ranked by App Annie as the most downloaded iOS game in the world during October 2013.

The result of this is that Tencent now ranks #2 in the chart of the top iOS publishers by download numbers. Thanks to the release of FIFA 14, EA is ranked #1 with Gameloft at #3.

Back in August, Tencent was ranked #7.

Significantly, though, it's not yet ranked in the top 10 chart for top grossing game companies on iOS.

[source: App Annie]

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.