Revenue from Tencent's international gaming division increased 15% year-over-year to 16 billion yuan, or $2.21 billion. Domestic gaming revenue rose 23% to 33.2 billion yuan, or $4.6 billion. Growth for both divisions accelerated from 9% and 14%, respectively, in the third quarter. Marketing services revenue climbed 17% year-over-year to 35 billion yuan, or $4.84 billion. That was roughly even with the growth rate for Tencent's third quarter. Tencent late last month released its Hunyuan Turbo S AI model it said can answer queries faster than the DeepSeek models that rattled U.S. markets in late January. But Tencent has also reportedly integrated DeepSeek models to power some features on WeChat. Tencent is competing with other Chinese tech giants and startups such as DeepSeek to build the t

We reiterate our OUTPERFORM recommendation and a revised target price of S$0.35 based on a DCF valuation method. Growth through acquisition • Continued M&A strategy to drive inorganic growth. Since its IPO, Winking Studios has strategically expanded its presence in Asia through the acquisition of two art outsourcing studios in Taiwan and Malaysia. This aligns with the company’s broader strategy of utilizing mergers and acquisitions to strengthen its position as a market leader in the art outsourcing industry. Its successful placement of new shares further supports its ongoing efforts to grow its market position through strategic acquisitions. • Organic growth in the Japanese market. 1H24 revenue grew 7.1% YoY to US15.2mn from US$14.2mn in 1H23, driven by a surge in orders from both its

The Switch 2 has smashed records to become the fastest-selling console ever after gamers snapped up 3.5 million units in its first four days, Nintendo said on Wednesday (Jun 11). Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the console is an upgrade to the original Switch – the third best-selling console of all time. It was released last Thursday to a global swell of fan excitement that included sold-out pre-orders and midnight store openings. The Japanese game giant said the Switch 2 had reached “the highest global sales level for any Nintendo hardware within the first four days”. It also broke industry records, analysts said, beating the first Switch and Sony’s PlayStation 5, which respectively sold 2.7 million and 3.4 million units in their first month. https://www.businesstimes

Monopoly GO! -- has become one of the top mobile games of all time and grossed billions in revenue since it launched last year. Hasbro has also acquired Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Magic: The Gathering, and they own the best-selling video game Baldur's Gate 3. So why is gaming such a big growth market for a traditional toymaker? Where's the market heading? And how does a big company judge the success of freemium apps like Monopoly GO!? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-09/hasbro-ceo-on-the-toymaker-s-digital-gaming-push

MICROSOFT kicked off its annual Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday (Jun 9), unveiling a new all-digital version of its Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as trailers for more than a dozen games including the next instalment of Call of Duty. The Games Showcase comes at a crucial time for Xbox and Microsoft as the gaming industry faces a downturn and publishers grapple with softer sales, layoffs and studio shutdowns. Microsoft showed off three gaming consoles including a disc-less version of the Xbox Series X and S consoles, and a special edition of the Series X with two terabytes of storage. The hardware refresh could help Xbox boost sales of its consoles which compete with Sony’s PlayStation 5. Among the games on display was Doom: The Dark Ages, the latest instalment in the long-running Doom

It reported revenue of 184.5 billion yuan (S$32.9 billion), exceeding analyst estimates of 178.5 billion yuan [BEIJING] Tencent reported second-quarter revenue growth of 15 per cent on Wednesday (Aug 13), driven by robust gaming performance and AI-powered business expansion. Gaming remained a key growth driver, with domestic revenue rising 17 per cent to 40.4 billion yuan and international revenue climbing 35 per cent to 18.8 billion yuan. The strong performance was fuelled by flagship titles including Honor of Kings and Dungeon & Fighter Mobile. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chinas-tencent-revenue-grows-15-q2-strong-gaming-performance

The video-game maker will release ‘Battlefield 6’ on Oct 10 [NEW YORK] Video-game maker Electronic Arts, is in talks to be taken private by a consortium led by Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company, known for popular titles such as Madden NFL, The Sims and Battlefield, could announce a deal as soon as next week, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. JPMorgan Chase is working on a financing package for the buyers, the sources added. A takeover of Electronic Arts would rank among the biggest deals announced so far in 2025 and potentially the largest leveraged buyout of all time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

South Korean company marks country's second-biggest IPO this year Shift Up raised 435 billion won ($315 million) in its IPO as it floated 12.5% of its stake by issuing 7.25 million new shares. It is the second-biggest IPO so far this year in South Korea, following HD Hyundai Marine Solution, which raised 742 billion won in May. The listing comes as Seoul's IPO market recovers from a long slump since the pandemic. An online bank, K-Bank, is also preparing for a market debut later this year. Shift Up is South Korea's fourth-largest game developer, having a lineup of Nikke: Goddess of Victory and Stellar Blade. The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO for developing new games and content as well as doing research for artificial intelligence and other new technology. https://asia.nik

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/tencents-dungeon-fighter-game-dominates-chinas-mobile-download-charts TENCENT Holdings’s newly launched Dungeon & Fighter (DnF Mobile) has got off to a strong start, dominating top-grossing charts on Apple’s iOS platform in China for nearly a month, industry data showed. The game, launched in the world’s biggest gaming market on May 21, broke the US$100 million revenue mark in just 10 days, according to a report released by data analytics firm Sensor Tower this week. It also topped the global mobile game revenue growth chart for May and ranked 8th in overall revenue. In the first 10 days of its launch, DnF Mobile’s revenue in China’s iOS market surpassed the combined earnings of Tencent’s other popular titles Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile, ac

‘Dungeon & Fighter Mobile’ is off to a hot start in China https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/tencents-new-blockbuster-game-exceeds-us270-million-30-days