Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) is preparing to roll out smash-hit Honor of Kings to the US and western Europe as early as September, introducing its single most profitable mobile game to millions of new players beyond China, people familiar with the matter said.
China’s largest Internet media company is accelerating the global rollout of the blockbuster title to diversify its revenue base, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
The company, best known for its WeChat messaging service, aims to build on the success of a title that might account for a majority of its smartphone gaming revenue this year.
Tencent might also be trying to create a truly global title to stand beside foreign acquisitions League of Legends and Clash of Clans.
Self-developed Honor of Kings, in which players hack and slash their way through battle arenas, has been gradually introduced to select markets beyond China, such as Turkey and Thailand.
It is also to launch in the US, France, Italy, Spain and Germany, the people said.
Those versions of the title are expected to incorporate local touches. For instance, some of the existing international takes let players assume the mantle of Van Helsing or Batman, in a tie-up with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment Inc respectively.
Tencent has already renamed the app Strike of Kings in many non-Chinese markets.
The Shenzhen-based company declined to comment.
The game is free to download and generates revenue from users who buy upgrades to improve their odds in battle.
Taking Honor of Kings to more foreign markets furthers Tencent’s ambition of spreading its footprint beyond China, while fortifying an industry dominance it bought with Supercell Oy and Riot Games Inc.
The move would also help the company shed its reliance on a home market where regulatory sentiment often proves unpredictable.
The company earlier this week came under fire after the Chinese government’s premier newspaper blasted Honor of Kings, saying it cultivated addiction and harmed children in the pursuit of profit.
BOC International Holdings Ltd (中銀國際控股) analyst Thomas Chong (莊耀鴻) forecast that Honor of Kings will contribute more than 50 percent of Tencent’s smartphone game revenue this year, and estimated that it recorded monthly gross revenue of as much as 3 billion yuan (US$441.2 million) in April alone.
The company has already unveiled different overseas versions for Honor of Kings, for instance in Hong Kong via Sea Ltd’s Garena platform.
In Turkey, the game has been ranked among the top 10 highest-grossing apps in past weeks, App Annie data showed.
It is also distributed in Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.
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