5 ms·

League of Legends is no longer the world's most popular video game.

by VonGuard 8y ago

minimaxir 8y ago
Tencent does a lot more than having a stake in Riot Games.
- superkuh 8y ago
  Yeah, they bought PUBG too. Right after it stopped being popular.
  - semperdark 8y ago
    They also own 40% of Fortnite.
  - gnarcoregrizz 8y ago
    pubg was bound to be a flash in the pan. i don't know how they would be able to fix it short of completely reworking it. 10 minutes of looting, then rip after getting shot from across the map
- VonGuard 8y ago
  Yes, they do, QQ being exhibit A. But League of Legends was supposed to be their first major step into the larger world of 100 million player+ games, worldwide. Riot has yet to produce another game, and their seat atop the gaming market is now gone. It wasn't their biggest money maker, but it was their biggest money maker outside of China, and investors really liked the idea of global growth.
  - scarejunba 8y ago
    Their seat is gone. To another game they own nearly half of.
  - Kiro 8y ago
    Pretty sure they make way more on Fortnite.
- ma2rten 8y ago
  No offense, but that comment goes to show US centric HN is. This is like valuing Microsoft based on XBox sales, only that it plays an even smaller role.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
thekingofh 8y ago
I wish it was. It's replacement is really awful.
daniel_levine 8y ago
Fortnite is... Which is made by Epic Games... Which Tencent owns nearly half of...
lostmsu 8y ago
What is now? PUBG?
- satsuma 8y ago
  depends on what sphere you're looking at. the overwatch league is poised to take over in the esports scene while fortnite is gobbling up the casual playerbase. note that this is north america focused, i have no clue about europe, south korea, or china.
  - mattbreeden 8y ago
    > the overwatch league is poised to take over in the esports scene in terms of number of players? Do you have any links to places where this has been said?
- Analemma_ 8y ago
  Measured in revenue, it has to be Fortnite: Epic is apparently printing money to the tune of $100MM/month from it. And anecdotally, over the course of just a couple months it certainly seems like every single person under the age of 18 in the United States started playing it.
  - Kiro 8y ago
    Well, Tencent also owns Epic so...
rococode 8y ago
While this is true, Tencent also owns major shares in a ton of the games that might be considered among the most popular, as well as minor shares in many of the companies they don't control. Arena of Valor, most popular mobile MOBA game; 80m daily players as of Dec 2017 and I believe it's currently the biggest game worldwide despite mostly being popular in China (I think there are even stories of politicians delaying press conferences to finish a match lmao) - developed and published by Tencent Fortnite - Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games Clash of Clans - Tencent owns ~85% of Supercell PUBG - They're working on acquiring 10% of Bluehole, developed PUBG mobile, and managed the (hugely successful) China release Overwatch / Hearthstone - Tencent owns ~5% of Activision (about $2.5b) Crossfire (still very popular in Asia) - Tencent managed the China release Candy Crush - Tencent is the distributor in China Some smaller but also well-known companies: Path of Exile - 80% stake Miniclip - majority stake Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, The Division, Rainbow 6) - 5% Paradox Games (Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, etc) - 5% Netmarble Games (mobile games like Lineage 2, YS Online) - 22% (mostly sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_Games) This is completely ignoring their significant shares in Tesla, Snapchat, etc. And the fact that they're like, not an actual investment firm and have their own business, including WeChat, QQ, and their AI lab. League's decline in popularity is certainly bad for them, but relative to their entire operations it's only a small hit. This recent drop in market value is, in my opinion, better attributed to the doubts over tech stock valuations due to Facebook and Twitter.
- ddeck 8y ago
  And they are able to push all of their mobile games through Wechat, with over a billion active users. Gaming was 48% of their revenue for Q2, with US$3.2 billion in phone sales and US$2.1 for desktop. The other 52% comes from social networks, Wepay, cloud infrastructure, and online advertising.
- jdhn 8y ago
  >Miniclip - majority stake Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I wasn't even aware that they were still around, but apparently they are.

League of Legends is no longer the world's most popular video game.

minimaxir 8y ago

Tencent does a lot more than having a stake in Riot Games.

superkuh 8y ago
Yeah, they bought PUBG too. Right after it stopped being popular.
- semperdark 8y ago
  They also own 40% of Fortnite.
- gnarcoregrizz 8y ago
  pubg was bound to be a flash in the pan. i don't know how they would be able to fix it short of completely reworking it. 10 minutes of looting, then rip after getting shot from across the map
VonGuard 8y ago
Yes, they do, QQ being exhibit A. But League of Legends was supposed to be their first major step into the larger world of 100 million player+ games, worldwide. Riot has yet to produce another game, and their seat atop the gaming market is now gone. It wasn't their biggest money maker, but it was their biggest money maker outside of China, and investors really liked the idea of global growth.
- scarejunba 8y ago
  Their seat is gone. To another game they own nearly half of.
- Kiro 8y ago
  Pretty sure they make way more on Fortnite.
ma2rten 8y ago
No offense, but that comment goes to show US centric HN is. This is like valuing Microsoft based on XBox sales, only that it plays an even smaller role.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

thekingofh 8y ago

I wish it was. It's replacement is really awful.

daniel_levine 8y ago

Fortnite is... Which is made by Epic Games... Which Tencent owns nearly half of...

lostmsu 8y ago

What is now? PUBG?

satsuma 8y ago
depends on what sphere you're looking at. the overwatch league is poised to take over in the esports scene while fortnite is gobbling up the casual playerbase. note that this is north america focused, i have no clue about europe, south korea, or china.
- mattbreeden 8y ago
  > the overwatch league is poised to take over in the esports scene in terms of number of players? Do you have any links to places where this has been said?
Analemma_ 8y ago
Measured in revenue, it has to be Fortnite: Epic is apparently printing money to the tune of $100MM/month from it. And anecdotally, over the course of just a couple months it certainly seems like every single person under the age of 18 in the United States started playing it.
- Kiro 8y ago
  Well, Tencent also owns Epic so...

rococode 8y ago

While this is true, Tencent also owns major shares in a ton of the games that might be considered among the most popular, as well as minor shares in many of the companies they don't control. Arena of Valor, most popular mobile MOBA game; 80m daily players as of Dec 2017 and I believe it's currently the biggest game worldwide despite mostly being popular in China (I think there are even stories of politicians delaying press conferences to finish a match lmao) - developed and published by Tencent Fortnite - Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games Clash of Clans - Tencent owns ~85% of Supercell PUBG - They're working on acquiring 10% of Bluehole, developed PUBG mobile, and managed the (hugely successful) China release Overwatch / Hearthstone - Tencent owns ~5% of Activision (about $2.5b) Crossfire (still very popular in Asia) - Tencent managed the China release Candy Crush - Tencent is the distributor in China Some smaller but also well-known companies: Path of Exile - 80% stake Miniclip - majority stake Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, The Division, Rainbow 6) - 5% Paradox Games (Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, etc) - 5% Netmarble Games (mobile games like Lineage 2, YS Online) - 22% (mostly sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_Games) This is completely ignoring their significant shares in Tesla, Snapchat, etc. And the fact that they're like, not an actual investment firm and have their own business, including WeChat, QQ, and their AI lab. League's decline in popularity is certainly bad for them, but relative to their entire operations it's only a small hit. This recent drop in market value is, in my opinion, better attributed to the doubts over tech stock valuations due to Facebook and Twitter.

ddeck 8y ago
And they are able to push all of their mobile games through Wechat, with over a billion active users. Gaming was 48% of their revenue for Q2, with US$3.2 billion in phone sales and US$2.1 for desktop. The other 52% comes from social networks, Wepay, cloud infrastructure, and online advertising.
jdhn 8y ago
>Miniclip - majority stake Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I wasn't even aware that they were still around, but apparently they are.