May 22, 2025: Ubisoft discloses additional details on new subsidiary with Tencent
Ubisoft has disclosed new financial and strategic details about its upcoming joint spinoff subsidiary with Tencent, reaffirming the project's emphasis on scaling Ubisoft's flagship IPs through open-world design, live services, and international market expansion with a notable emphasis on China and mobile games. Tencent will invest 1.16 billion euro (approximately $1.3 billion) to acquire a 25% stake in the new entity. According to Ubisoft, the company will receive at least 500 million euro ($559 million) in cash from the deal.
Why this matters: This structure enables Ubisoft to de-risk long-term content investment, while Tencent's operational and regional strengths are expected to aid in the expansion of Ubisoft IPs into new platforms and geographies. With Tencent's established reach in China's mobile and PC ecosystems, and Ubisoft's library of globally recognized IP, the partnership is poised to serve as a model for long term co-operation between Western and Chinese entities to create a truly global games company.
Honor of Kings is partnering with beverage company Ai-CHA in Indonesia
Tencent's MOBA game Honor of Kings announced a partnership with Indonesia-based beverage company Ai-CHA Indonesia. A campaign called "Kings of Chill" was launched and two drinks dubbed "Kings of Lemon Tea" and "Kings of Milk Tea", based on the game’s characters, were released. This collaboration will be conducted in 386 Ai-CHA stores across 5 cities. There will be in-store promotional offers and offline community tournaments in each of 5 cities with a prize pool of $12,152.
Why this matters: Non-endemic collaborations and partnerships continue to be one of the most prominent marketing channels for games in Southeast Asia. We have seen games partner with different brands including beverages, snacks, automotives, convenience stores, and clothing apparels to reach out to wider audiences in the region. Honor of Kings still lags behind Mobile Legends in Indonesia, where the latter leads in the MOBA genre.
Link to original article (Indonesian) →
Bluepoch issues apology over comments from game writer
A recent controversy involving a member of the narrative team behind Bluepoch's ACGN mobile RPG Reverse: 1999 has sparked widespread backlash among its player base in China. Players unearthed inappropriate comments made by a Reverse: 1999 scriptwriter on social media, including criticism of the game's early story content. These remarks, viewed by many as disrespectful toward the title's worldbuilding and audience, quickly circulated across fan communities and triggered a wave of user condemnation.
Why this matters: While Bluepoch has apologized to users, acknowledging the comments eroded user trust and promising that staff biases would not be allowed to disrupt the creative direction of the game, parts of the player community remained unsatisfied. The controversy is one of the unfortunate realities of developing character and story centric live service games where player expectations are heightened due to parasocial elements. Game developers need to ensure that they monitor feedback from their core community and address concerns quickly to ensure engaged players remain fans.
Link to original article (Chinese) →
China Games & Streaming Tracker: April 2025 Summary - Krafton's InZOI debuted at #59 on the Niko Index chart and ranked #1 in the simulation genre, according to Niko’s China Games and Streaming Tracker in April. NetEase Games' titles Marvel Rivals and Once Human also witnessed significant viewership growth in April. Our China Games & Streaming Tracker provides instant access to game live streaming data in China. Our latest monthly summary is now available for subscribers of NikoIQ.
China International Capital Corporation's $100 million digital content fund to boost Malaysia's digital content industry
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and CICC Capital Management Co. LTD, a private equity investment arm of China International Capital Corporation Limited, signed an MOU to establish the China-Malaysia Gaming and Digital Content Fund, with a targeted fund size of approximately $100 million. The strategic fund is intended to bolster Malaysia's digital content industry and reflects the increasing global interest and confidence in the country's emergence as a regional gaming hub over the past two years.
Why this matters: Malaysia's digital content industry has played a vital role in driving economic growth, generating approximately 8,200 jobs as of 2023. With over 300 homegrown digital content companies, the sector contributed an estimated MYR 1.4 billion ($328 million) to the national gross domestic product (GDP) in the same year. This pioneering fund is designed to attract top Chinese digital content players to expand into Malaysia through local entities and joint ventures.
Telangana government intensifies crackdown on real money gaming operators, demanding data via legal notices
The Telangana government has stepped up enforcement against real money gaming (RMG) platforms by issuing legal notices to operators demanding detailed information on their servers, payment systems, and user demographics, citing concerns that banned apps continue to reach consumers via backdoor channels and contribute to significant financial and social harm. The Telangana government issued a 2017 amendment explicitly outlawing online games of skill for money, and while many moved out of the state, there has also been a shift underground.
Why this matters: Real Money Gaming (RMG) continues to be a subject of debate in India where the national government has begun to differentiate it from traditional video games and taxed it at a higher rate. Telangana is currently preparing a multi stakeholder consultation on an Online Digital Gaming Code. The outcome will be pivotal: a move toward regulation could foster a transparent, taxed gaming market, while a continued zero tolerance approach may drive operators further underground and perpetuate enforcement challenges.
Moonton launches Mobile Legends Bang Bang Lite in Africa
Moonton Games has launched Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Lite (MLBB Lite) on Android in Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa, targeting markets with lower-end mobile hardware and inconsistent connectivity. The Lite version retains the core 5v5 MOBA gameplay of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang while optimizing performance for entry-level smartphones through reduced visual effects, simplified animations, and lower memory usage. MLBB faces competition from the more resource intensive League of Legends: Wild Rift and Honor of Kings in Africa.
Why this matters: Game developers sometimes consider Lite versions to lower barriers to entry in regions with growing, but hardware constrained mobile gaming populations. Africa is seeing a rise in mobile first game engagement, yet continues to face challenges related to data costs, unstable networks, and high device spec requirements. Moonton’s move reflects a broader strategy among global publishers to customize experiences by region and to cement MLBB as a truly global esports-ready MOBA to stand out among its competitors.
Earnings Roundup
Tencent reported Q1 2025 revenue of RMB 180 billion ($25.08 billion), up 12.9% YoY. Net profit was also up 17% to RMB 49.7 billion ($6.93 billion) with a 28% profit margin. Online games revenue was RMB 59.5 billion ($8.29 billion), up 23.7%, primarily driven by strong mobile and domestic revenue growth. Domestic game revenue was RMB 42.9 billion ($5.98 billion), up 23.8% YoY, while international revenue was RMB 16.6 billion ($2.31 billion), up 9.2% YoY. Niko Partners estimates an additional $1.45 billion was generated in the VAS segment, accounting for mini game sales, third party distribution, and other game related revenue, bringing total gaming revenue to RMB 69.9 billion ($9.75 billion).
NetEase reported Q1 2024 revenue of RMB 28.8 billion ($3.97 billion), up 7.4% YoY. Net profit was RMB 10.4 billion ($1.44 billion), up 37% YoY with profit margins up 8 percentage points to 36%. Revenue from Games & Related Value Added Services totaled RMB 24.0 billion ($3.31 billion), up 12.1% YoY, with approximately 97.5% of revenue from online games across mobile, PC and console. The YoY increase was primarily due to increased net revenues from Identity V, several newly launched titles, as well as certain licensed games including Marvel Rivals & World of Warcraft.
NCSOFT reported its Q1 2025 financial results with revenue of KRW 360.3 billion ($258.7 million), operating profit of KRW 5.2 billion ($3.7 million), and net income of KRW 37.5 billion ($27 million). Revenue declined 9% YoY, operating profit declined 80% YoY, and net income declined 34% YoY. Both mobile and PC titles are seeing a decrease in revenue, with Blade & Soul being the exception following the February release of Blade & Soul Neo. NCSOFT’s other titles such as Lineage, AION, and Guild Wars 2 all saw declining revenue.
Sea Limited reported its Q1 2025 financial results with digital entertainment arm, Garena, seeing a 51.4% YoY increase in bookings to $775.4 million and an 8.2% YoY in GAAP revenue to $495.6 million. Garena's quarterly active users also climbed to 661.8 million (11.3% increase YoY), while paying users surged 32.2% YoY to 64.6 million, improving the paying user ratio from 8.2% to 9.8% YoY. The increasing number of revenue and gamers for Garena was driven by the success of its second Free Fire x NARUTO collaboration.
Events
Vietnam GameVerse 2025
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
May 24-25, 2025
Attendees: Linh Diep, Hung Tang