Tencent's annual online games revenue 2011-2021
Tencent’s gaming empire
The entertainment giant has remained as the world’s top game publisher by revenue in recent years, leading the industry with 14 million U.S. dollars more than the second placeholder, Sony. In terms of app download numbers, Tencent Mobile Games ranked fifth in iPhone game publishers. Its mobile games “Peacekeeper Elite” and “Honor of Kings” have been well-received in the Chinese market. In fact, the Chinese conglomerate controls stakes in some of the world’s popular games, such as “League of Legends”, “Fortnite”, and “Clash of Clans”. Its battle-royale game PUBG Mobile has gained immense popularity in overseas markets.
The goldmine of online gaming in China
In a country with over 660 million gamers, the gaming market in China is massive and lucrative. Since 2017, the revenue of China’s video game industry has surpassed 200 billion yuan and continued to grow steadily. Undoubtedly, Chinese consumers are highly engaged in mobile gaming. Chess or card games, massively multiplayer online games (MMO), and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) are the most popular genres which captured over three hours of daily time per user during thhe Chinese New Year holiday in 2021. Besides mobile games, eSports is another booming game sector in China. Role-playing games (RPG) and MOBA were the major revenue generators of eSports gaming. Having scoped out the market potentials of eSports, Tencent invested in the eSports streaming platform Douyu and acquired Douyu’s biggest domestic rival Huya in April 2020. It is quite unlikely for other market players to shake Tencent’s dominating status in the next few years.