A new report has revealed the combined performance of NetEase and Tencent mobile revenue has risen by 505 percent outside of China over the last year. The figure is now at $472 million, improving massively upon the $78 million results from the year prior. The rise was attributed to the huge success of a small number of mobile games for both companies.
According to GameIndustry.biz, the figures came out of a report by IHS Markit and the stunning improvement can be largely credited to the success of game Knives Out. Knives Out is a battle royale game with a significant amount of popularity in Japan. Tencent’s contributions come in the form of Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile.
The report notes PUBG Mobile has “failed to ignite western audiences,” yet it was still the second most downloaded of 2018. However, PUBG Mobile did only make up 2 percent of Tencent’s overall mobile games business in 2018. Tencent also acquires a significant of revenue from its publishing deals related to the popular King hit Candy Crush Saga.
The surge in NetEase and Tencent mobile revenue outside of China is likely to be looked upon fondly by both companies. The companies have recently struggled to get their most popular titles published in China, seeing them rejected by the country’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television department. Furthermore, Tencent recently updated its streaming policies in China to stay on the right side of the law. China’s new internet governance guidance led to the change which included a rule stating “content that causes any negative social influences” is not allowed.
Tencent is primarily known by western audiences for its ownership of League of Legends as well as its partial involvement with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. While NetEase publishes many of Blizzard Entertainment’s most popular titles in China and is currently working on the Diablo Immortal mobile title.
