China's Tencent Holdings (HKG:0700, OTC:TCEHY) plans to release its flagship mobile game Honor of Kings in the international market by the end of the year, as the world's largest gaming company continues to face pressure in its home market.
The Shenzhen-based giant's multiplayer action game is widely played in China and has consistently been its most profitable, raking in US$10bn in sales between its 2015 introduction and September last year, according to data firm Sensor Tower, and which has made it the highest-grossing mobile game of all time.
Tencent, which owns a 40% stake in Fortnite owner Epic Games, will publish the foreign version of the battle royale game via Level Infinite, its overseas publishing arm, based in Singapore and Amsterdam.
This is the second international attempt to replicate the domestic success of Honor of Kings, where gamers in China ranging from early teenagers to white-collar workers duel in short sessions while splurging on weapons and costumes.
Because China's gaming industry has become intensely competitive and scarred by a strong regulatory crackdown since last year, Tencent's overseas launch underlines the company's commitment to worldwide expansion.
In 2017 Beijing decided to limit the time children can play the game to one hour a day for children aged under 12 and two hours for children between 12 and 18, with last year seeing state run media condemning online gaming as “spiritual opium” and “electronic drugs”.
Since last June, China's gaming authority has not issued Tencent any new game licences, and the firm was also not included in the latest batch of 60 game licences given on Tuesday.
Tencent, which last year was given US permission to acquire London-listed gaming studio Sumo Group for £919mln, said in May its domestic sales fell 1% in the first quarter, while international revenue increased 4%.
Honor of Kings, which has more than 95% of its users in China, was the world's top-grossing game in April, with more than US$274mln in player expenditure, up 6.2% from a year ago.