Tencent CEO Disappointed in Gaming Achievements

Tencent is involved in a number of major games. From Fortnite and NBA 2K Online to League of Legends, the company has heavily invested in games studios and even acquired some of them for their own output. Despite becoming a mainstay in the development and publishing world of video games, the CEO co-founder of the company is not too impressed with how the investments have fared thus far. Here’s what the leader of the major company said recently about gaming’s underperformance for the company.

Pony Ma, chief executive and co-founder of Tencent Holdings, shared his thoughts on gaming’s impact on the company’s portfolio at Tencent’s annual meeting in a stadium in Shenzhen. The quote, collected from Reuters, included Ma sharing that “Gaming is our flagship business…But in the past year, we have faced significant challenges,” Ma said, “We have found ourselves at a loss, as our competitors continue to produce new products, leaving us feeling having achieved nothing.”

Despite numerous acquisitions of gaming companies, Ma isn’t wrong; Tencent has failed to truly move the needle in the gaming industry. MMOs like Genshin Impact regularly outperform the projects developed and published by the Chinese company. There’s certainly a trend of companies acquiring studios currently, but there’s also a potential trend brewing that these acquisitions aren’t quite living up to their purchase price.

Ma shared in the same speech that AI will continue to be implemented into all aspects of Tencent’s business. This would presumably include video games, which won’t likely be the saving grace the company might hope. Many gamers and games journalists have been critical of AI as a development tool for video games. If the goal is to earn the player’s trust or attention, AI isn’t the roadmap. That said, it’s an inevitable element of game development in the future.

Are there any Tencent releases you’d consider to be wins for the company? Likewise, what’s your take on the world of gaming acquisitions? Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments.