HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings, China’s largest video game and social media company, launched a new California-based studio this week as it seeks to further expand its presence abroad.
FILE PHOTO: A Tencent poster is seen at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, China on October 20, 2019. REUTERS / Aly Song / File Photo
The new studio, LightSpeed LA, will be led by former Rockstar veteran Steve Martin and will focus on the development and publication of AAA titles, LightSpeed and Quantum Studios of Tencent Games said in a statement to Reuters.
“We are ushering in a new era of gaming culture by combining world-class development with a stress-free work environment,” Martin said in the statement.
Tencent is trying to build a series of studios abroad with the goal of creating original IP content that has global appeal.
The launch is also the company’s latest move in a strategy to earn half of its gaming revenue from abroad, a category that accounted for about 23% of its online gaming sales in the fourth quarter.
The company recently hired Halo 4 lead designer Scott Warner to head another new studio recently grouped together at TiMi Studios, the maker of Arena of Valor and Call of Duty: Mobile.
Tencent also owns League of Legends creator Riot Games, and has majority control of Clash of Clans maker Supercell.
The new studio in Orange County has hired creative talent from Rockstar Games, Sony VASG, Respawn Entertainment, 2K Games and Insomniac.
Last week, Tencent unveiled plans for more than 40 gaming products, from the launch of Mobile Dungeon & Fighter to an unidentified Metal Slug mobile game in association with SNK Corp.
It also announced a cross-platform Pokemon team fighting game running on the Switch console and on Nintendo Co Ltd. mobile.
Tencent Holdings shares soared more than 8% this week to a record high of HK $ 521 after the announcement of the new games.
Pei Li’s report; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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