Tag: tencent

ByteDance/WeChat Executive Order not to include Tencent’s video game holdings.

Short version: there’s an executive order now targeting ByteDance and WeChat. They’ll be banned from doing business with American companies in a month and a half, and everybody in gaming started going “Hubaba-WHAT?” because Tencent (owner of WeChat) owns a metric butt-ton of gaming companies now. Fortnite in particular, although this is of personal interest to me because they just bought FunCom (Secret World Legends, Conan Exiles).

Anyway, it’s just WeChat that’s now outside the Pale, not Tencent in general: “A White House official on Thursday night clarified that the executive order concerning WeChat only blocks transactions related to WeChat, not those involving other Tencent holdings.” (Via @SamAugustDean) At least, for now. But further speculation on my part would be pushing the Line, so I won’t. I’m pretty close to the edge to it as it is.

Tencent looking to acquire Funcom.

Some details here: basically, Tencent is offering to buy out Funcom stockholders at a decent price above current closing. For those following at home, Tencent is the Chinese tech megacorp with a dubious history involving software piracy that isn’t being specifically targeted as a notorious national security risk by the US government. But I suspect that I’m being rude by pointing out that particular distinction.

So, what does that mean for The Secret World MMO? …Probably nothing, dammit. Unless they decide that they need to bring back the Chinese PvP map again. That’d be nice.