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Tencent reportedly looking to use Nintendo IP as it expands internationally

May focus on a female audience

Tencent reportedly looking to use Nintendo IP as it expands internationally

Tencent is keen to team up with Nintendo to create games for consumers in Europe and the US.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Tencent has stakes in both Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, yet it has no foothold in the US market.

In the Chinese market, the publisher dominates the mobile sector. Through its partnership with Nintendo, Tencent hopes to "learn the essence of making console games."

On top of this, the Chinese government recently enforced stricter rules upon its minors.

Anyone under the age of 18 is restricted to 90 minutes of game time a day; another reason for expanding its audience. 

“What we want is to expand from China, and one target is console game players in the U.S. and Europe,” said a Tencent official.

“We hope to create console games with Nintendo characters, and learn the essence of making console games from Nintendo engineers.”

Another Tencent official added: “Nintendo games are not constructed to make people pay a lot of money.”

“Tencent is skillfully pursuing silent global domination, via expansion primarily in the form of major and minor investments in [videogame] industry companies around the world without rebranding them as Tencent,” said Niko Partners managing partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson.

Appealing to women

“Women are becoming a driving force behind the growth of the gaming market,” said Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad.

“Chinese developers are not only shifting to create games aimed at female players, they are also tailoring existing games to better appeal to them.”

Nintendo appears to share this vision. It’s reported that outside developers for the company have claimed: “they were asked by Nintendo to make games for young women, such as romance games, a genre with passionate fans including in China.”


Staff Writer

Kayleigh is the Staff Writer for PocketGamer.biz. Besides PGbiz and PCGI she has written as a list writer for Game Rant, rambling about any and all things games related. You can also find her on Twitter talking utter nonsense.