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Tencent benefits from multiple new game launches on Steam
Steam accounts for 3 of the top 10 new games in the new year. Is the presence of Tencent’s overseas legion getting stronger and stronger?
GameLook report/Not long after the beginning of this year, ” Phantom Beast Parlu” was born on the Steam platform”, “Mistlock Kingdom” and many other popular products. Taking this opportunity, GameLook also conducted statistics on the most popular products among players this year.
You won’t know it if you don’t watch it, but you will be shocked when you see it – GameLook unexpectedly discovered that in addition to the phenomenal “Phantom Parlu” which far surpasses other products, the number of people online at the same time at the peak ( PCCU) Among the top ten new games of 2024, Tencent is behind 3 products.
Among them, the eighth-ranked open-world survival and construction game “Legend of Nightingale” was developed by the Canadian studio Inflexion Games. This studio was fully acquired by Tencent in early 2022. It can be said that it has long been included in the ranks of “self-developed studios” . Inflexion Games CEO Aaryn Flynn was also interviewed at the beginning of the month, praising the cooperative relationship with Tencent as “very relaxed and fully supportive” and “Tencent is probably the company with the most long-term vision we have ever seen.”
Tencent invests in Keen Games’ “Mistlock Kingdom” to achieve 160,000 online sales on Steam
The developers of “Last Epoch” and “Mistlock Kingdom” ranked third and fourth, Eleventh Hour and Keen Games have both received investment from Tencent. According to developer Eleventh Hour, Tencent holds a minority stake, and Tencent and Hiro Capital jointly invested $10 million in Keen Games.
As we all know, Tencent has always been regarded as a “big player in online games and mobile games.” But in the PC and console markets, which are considered the main stage for overseas manufacturers, the seemingly “obscure” Tencent Games has seen its presence grow rapidly in recent years.
For example, in last year’s TGA, there was even a bizarre scene where “Tencent-based companies accounted for half of the country’s games.” A local financial information shows that the 2023 Game of the Year winner ” Baldur’s Gate 3″The Larian Studio behind “Baldur’s Gate 3” is 30% owned by Tencent, which is the company’s major shareholder. So far, the sales volume of “Baldur’s Gate 3” has exceeded 10 million units.
In addition, “Alan Alan 2” (Remedy Studio), which won eight TGA nominations last year, “Armored Core 6” (FromSoftware), the best action game winner, and “League of Legends” and “Fearless Contract” which won all e-sports awards (Rist), the companies behind it have received investment from Tencent, or are studios owned by Tencent.
The list of companies Tencent has acquired is far more than this: it acquired Sumo Group for US$1.27 billion and fully acquired Sharkmob , the developer of “Warhammer 40k: Undertow”, invested US$1.6 billion in shares (third-party estimated data) and became the largest shareholder of Techland, the developer of “Dying Light”; acquired Digital Extremes, the Canadian developer of “Warframe” for more than US$1.4 billion, and invested in the production of “Forza Horizon” before Gavin Raeburn’s new studio… So much so that the number of people in overseas studios currently wholly owned by Tencent exceeded 4,000 as early as last year.
It can be seen that Tencent’s investment style in the overseas console and PC fields in the Western market is “stable and ruthless”: the game companies it currently acquires either have strong development resumes or are led by solid producers. “3A” and “high quality” have become the primary keywords for Tencent’s acquisitions. In order to obtain powerful developers, Tencent is not willing to pay tens of billions of yuan in capital costs.
The acquisition or investment of a single PC/console game studio can easily cost 10 billion yuan. If placed in the Chinese market, it can support the development of more than 10 “Genshin Impact” games. Considering the long cycle and rate of return of console/PC games, How this economic account can be calculated and still make Tencent feel worthwhile is quite curious to GameLook.
As Tencent’s overseas game products continue to emerge, how can these games close the Internet and form a strong overseas ecosystem comparable to Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo? Tencent is still making big moves.
With 30 million daily active users, will the Epic store be a good place to close the Internet?
Tencent has always had a good reputation of being “free range” in the studios it acquires. However, judging by normal business logic, Tencent’s large-scale overseas investment with tens of billions of funds must not only be for the purpose of obtaining share dividends from game manufacturers and incubating IP opportunities to adapt mobile games. This giant that pursues long-termism in the game business is indeed quite patient, but at some point in the future when “everything is ready”, Tencent may also seek to revitalize its product lineup.
And when this moment comes, how will Tencent bring the product to fruition? GameLook wants to take a wild guess.
For example, the Epic Games Store is a possible place. Currently, Tencent still holds 40% of Epic shares, and is only one step away from becoming the largest shareholder. Judging from the current scale of the EGS store, this game store is not as good as Steam, which is also a PC platform, but it has maintained a steady growth trend in the past few years.
According to the latest annual review released by Epic, there are currently more than 270 million PC users in the Epic Game Mall, an increase of 40 million from 2022, and the total number of Epic cross-platform accounts has reached 804 million. In 2023, the number of daily active users of the Epic Game Mall will reach a peak of 36.1 million, and the number of monthly active users will reach 75 million, up from 68 million last year.
In 2023, more than 1,300 new PC games will be launched on the Epic Games Store, and the platform currently has more than 2,900 games, an increase of 88% since 2022. Including Epic’s own games, players spent more than $950 million on the Epic Games Store in 2023, a 16% increase from 2022.
Epic Games Store also has several unique advantages. For example, the company is currently preparing to launch an app store for mobile platforms. Although this move is mainly in response to Apple’s opening of third-party iOS store licenses in the EU, Epic still has the opportunity to make it a big business across the world.
The EGS store has accomplished something that Tencent has not accomplished in the Chinese market, especially its cooperation with NetEase and MiHoYo.
At present, Chinese and foreign manufacturers are dancing harmoniously in the Epic Game Mall – according to the latest annual review, Chinese products such as “Genshin Impact” and “Honkai Impact: Star Rail” are competing with “Red Dead Redemption 2”, “Cyberpunk 2077”, etc. Overseas games are jointly at the top of the revenue rankings. Games such as “Black Myth: Wukong” and “Zero” have become the “most anticipated games” officially listed by Epic.
Not to mention, relying on its free game distribution strategy and sincere content sharing, Epic Game Mall has also accumulated high popularity in China – not only does the official account have millions of fans on platforms such as Bilibili, but it also gains revenue from players. It was nicknamed “E Bao” and has a unique reputation.
In a sense, in terms of global market influence, Epic GamesIt even completely surpasses Tencent’s own WeGame platform. We can fully imagine that one day, a well-equipped Tencent will expand its shareholding ratio in Epic Games, help it expand its PC and mobile business, and integrate Tencent’s major games such as “League of Legends” and “Fearless Contract” Products are distributed through Epic. In this process, Tencent will also become an “important force” in the gaming industry.
Surrounding the global gaming industry, what is Tencent doing?
Globalization has only started for a few years, and Tencent still has the image of a “big owner”. But if the cycle is extended to ten or twenty years, under the catalysis of time, these acquired studios may not only play the role of “new force” and “money printing machine” for Tencent’s development, they will also be more important. It may have a significant impact on Tencent’s gaming capabilities and business direction. According to GameLook, the acquisitions of these studios by Tencent carry at least three levels of important strategic significance.
First of all, by acquiring and participating in the international game publishing business, Tencent will be able to build a better understanding of overseas markets and then expand its global self-developed and all-round system. In 2022, Liu Ming, CEO of Tencent Interactive Entertainment’s international business, was interviewed by foreign media and conveyed this goal: “We are exploring our expertise around the world, and we have various expertise and capabilities for local online operations around the world. Now, What we’re trying to do is build out our global distribution system, and we want (our regional teams) to be publishers, not just local market agents.”
This strategy is already bearing fruit. For example, Tencent’s Level Infinite has rapidly become the world’s leading cross-terminal distribution brand in recent years, relying on the capabilities and exploration accumulated from the international distribution of products such as “Warhammer 40k” and “Nikke”. In the recent case of Level Infinite, the brand helped “Honor of Kings” launch in more than 50 countries and regions. Relying on efficient local resources to promote the game, it achieved the good result of reaching the top of the free list in many places.
“Honor of Kings” tops Türkiye’s IOS free game download list
Another important significance is to feed back Tencent’s own game self-research capabilities. Many 3A studios that have been acquired by Tencent in the past have mentioned that the two parties will conduct two-way resource exchange. Tencent provides manufacturers with non-financial support such as cloud services and game operations, and these 3A manufacturers will also exchange game development experience with Tencent. In the eyes of Tencent, which is pursuing high-quality games and trying to enhance its self-research capabilities for game products, this is undoubtedly highly necessary.
In recent years, we can clearly feel that the development quality specifications of Tencent’s new products such as “Yuanmeng Star” and “Need for Speed: Assemblage” have been in line with leading international products, and more and more projects such as “Operation Delta” and “Need for Speed: Assemblage” have been developed. The establishment of a “big product” project with AAA-level production standards, multi-terminal and cross-platform such as “Reverse War: The Future” is undoubtedly related to the accumulation of development experience through acquisitions. Tencent Photonics unveiled its self-developed 3A product “Last Sentinel” at last year’s TGA. The LightSpeed LA studio behind it was also co-founded by overseas veteran producer Steve Martin.
Tencent Photonics self-developed 3A “Last Sentinel”
Finally, for content-based industries like games, sufficiently rich content itself is enough to form a barrier to business development. Take the development of cloud gaming as a simple case comparison – Google’s cloud gaming service Stadia died midway due to a lack of game lineup; in contrast, Xbox’s Phil Spencer confirmed the day before yesterday that Xbox’s cloud gaming The proportion of service usage time has exceeded double digits, giving them the confidence to continue investing in cloud gaming construction.
We often divide the console market into three camps: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Each of the three companies has a rich lineup of game studios. As Level Infinite’s brand slogan “A new level of infinite possibilities” says, after attracting enough related manufacturers, Tencent in the future is entirely likely to become the “fourth pole” of the gaming industry. , under the moat of content, develop game services with more unique characteristics, bringing unlimited possibilities to the game industry.
Source: Nico Partners / gamelook-com-cn
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Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – November 24-30
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.
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VGO Promo, a long-standing platform known for bridging the worlds of cryptocasinos, cryptocurrency exchanges and CSGO skins gaming, has announced a comprehensive expansion of its verification framework designed to bring transparency to online promotional offers. The updated system enhances how users evaluate bonuses across three intersecting ecosystems. Founded during the peak of the CSGO skins economy, VGO Promo originally provided referral codes for case opening websites and virtual item platforms. As the industry evolved towards blockchain based gaming, Bitcoingambling and crypto trading, VGO Promo expanded its scope to support modern platforms including Roobet, Stake, Rollbit, CSGORoll, Duelbits, Binance, OKX, ByBit, Bitget and various case opening services within the CSGO community. The updated verification framework applies a structured, cross industry methodology to help users navigate rapidly changing promotional conditions.
FanDuel has announced the launch of Pass The Leg, a first-of-its-kind in-app feature that transforms traditional parlay betting into a shared, social experience just in time for holiday gatherings. Pass The Leg allows customers to build a single group parlay collaboratively, with each participant adding their own leg before placing individual bets using their own funds. Designed to bring friends and family together around one of the biggest football days of the year whether near or far, the feature allows users to start or join a Group Build, invite others to contribute picks, and then add the completed parlay to their personal betslip. Each contributor can also take advantage of a dedicated Pass The Leg Profit Boost, amplifying the excitement and potential payout of the shared pick. Available exclusively for the three NFL games taking place on Thanksgiving Day, Pass The Leg marks the first true multi-user parlay-building experience offered by a major U.S. sportsbook operator.
Partnerships
The St. Louis Blues announced an agreement designating DraftKings an Official Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Operator of the Blues. The announcement comes ahead of the launch of legal sports betting in Missouri scheduled for Dec. 1, 2025. DraftKings has been an Official Sports Betting, Daily Fantasy Sports and iGaming Partner of the National Hockey League since 2021. As part of the agreement, DraftKings will spotlight responsible gaming through a pregame, in-arena feature, encouraging fans to play responsibly, have fun and access DraftKings’ comprehensive suite of responsible gaming tools and resources. DraftKings will have rights to use St. Louis Blues intellectual property — including team trademarks and logos — across marketing and promotional materials. The collaboration will feature in-arena signage, brand integrations across television and radio and exclusive hospitality experiences throughout the season, all designed to elevate fan engagement at the Enterprise Centre and beyond.
Signature Systems Inc (SSI) has announced a new partnership with Yellow Dog Software. The integration connects Yellow Dog’s advanced inventory capabilities with SSI’s PDQ POS system, enabling operators to streamline operations, improve cost control and gain real-time visibility across their properties. The partnership was initiated to meet the inventory needs of Osage Casinos, a major name in tribal gaming. The integration, which went live in September, was first deployed to support convenience store reporting and ordering across the properties.
The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – November 24-30 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Scaling With Purpose: RedCore’s Tech Vision Explained
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At SiGMA Central Europe in Rome, European Gaming Media sat down with Yevhenii Yankovyi, Vice President of Technology and Deputy CTO at RedCore, for a deep look into what truly powers RedCore’s large-scale engineering operations.
RedCore is known for innovating at enterprise level, yet moving with the agility of a fast-growing tech company. In this conversation, Yevhenii breaks down how the organization manages that balance: how engineering teams maintain both speed and reliability, how automation empowers creativity, and why culture must remain a daily practice rather than a one-time achievement.
Can you introduce yourself and RedCore’s approach to engineering at scale?
Sure. My name is Yevhenii, I’m the Vice President of Technology at RedCore and Deputy CTO. RedCore is a large company with many products and projects, so everything we do operates at a significant scale. And when people hear “enterprise-level engineering,” the usual assumption is that scale automatically means slowness: slow decision-making, slow implementation, slow testing, slow time to market.
That’s the mindset we challenge. We don’t believe speed and stability are opposites. In our experience, at this level of complexity, the two actually reinforce each other. When you build the right processes, the right technical foundations, and the right organizational structure, speed becomes a natural result of stability – not something that contradicts it.
We plan for scaling from day one. For us, that’s a fundamental requirement. We build products with the expectation that they will grow, and growth means scale. So we design with that in mind from the very first line of architecture.
But that doesn’t mean disappearing for six or ten months to design the “perfect” system. That’s the common mistake people make when they hear “design for scale.” Our approach is different: we keep the long-term vision in mind, but we move fast, iterate, and make sure the product can evolve without slowing the team down. Stability and speed working together – that’s the engineering culture we build at RedCore.
How does RedCore balance speed and stability in daily engineering?
I will explain this with a simple metaphor: think about a car. Everyone talks about acceleration and top speed, but none of that matters if you can’t take a corner. Speed alone is not the winning formula – you also need control.
That’s exactly how we look at engineering at RedCore. We want to accelerate, make decisions quickly, and develop fast. But we also need the ability to slow down at the right moment, change direction, and stay agile. Balancing speed with stability is the only way to move at scale.
There are many layers to this – it’s a topic I could talk about for days – but in a nutshell:
at a big scale, you must have strong standards, clear policies, and a high level of automation. We rely heavily on automation: infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and all the tools that remove repetitive, routine work from engineers’ daily lives. When the routine disappears, people can focus on what humans actually do best: creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.
However, automation doesn’t build the software for you. It creates a safety net. It catches mistakes, guards quality, and supports engineers when their creativity pushes boundaries. In other words: tools give freedom, and also protect that freedom.
And of course, this includes AI and many other modern tools. We use whatever helps us keep the balance: give people space to think, create, and experiment, while ensuring the system stays stable, predictable, and high-quality.
How does RedCore’s management keep teams aligned yet fast?
First of all, we provide clear goals. As I mentioned earlier, we always design for scale from day zero – but you can only do that if you know exactly what you’re building, for whom, and why. We have a very strong business team that understands the market and what needs to be delivered. The technology team works side by side with them, reinforcing them.
Once the goals are clear, we begin small. If you try to build a huge system from the beginning and get it wrong, you create a nightmare: something no one can support, change, or grow. Complexity grows exponentially, and humans don’t think exponentially; we think linearly. That’s where companies often get lost.
So we avoid that by validating early and validating often. We start with small steps, keep a close eye on every direction we take, and confirm that what we’re building is truly needed by the market. When we see that the direction is right, then we scale – and by that point, the foundation is already in place. It’s like preparing a launchpad so that when the time comes, the team can accelerate immediately.
We build block by block and work in iterations. We take a small team – one, two, maybe three people – and let them experiment for a week. We test the idea fast, get quick feedback, and bring it to the business side: “Do you like it?” If the answer is yes, then we continue, still following all the proper engineering practices before anything goes into production.
This constant loop between business and technology keeps everyone aligned. We give feedback, we receive feedback, and we move together. That’s how we stay both fast and coordinated, always ready to scale when the direction is confirmed.
How does automation empower engineers without slowing them down?
When we talk about automation, we’re really talking about optimization at scale. It doesn’t make sense to over-engineer small things, but at the scale we operate, the cost efficiency and speed gains are enormous. And people often assume that big systems and automation automatically slow everything down. For us, it’s the opposite.
The tools we introduce are not meant to tie engineers’ hands with bureaucracy. We don’t force strict guidelines or heavy processes that kill creativity. Our tools exist to help: to prevent mistakes, to collect feedback quickly, and to give teams the shortest possible path from idea to validation.
Here’s a simple example: we start experimenting with a small feature. We build a tiny prototype to see if the idea works. If it’s promising, the next step is testing, pipelines, deployment – all the things that normally take time. In many companies, engineers would try to do all of this manually because “building the tools will take too long.” But with us, the tools are already there. The infrastructure, the CI/CD, the automation – everything is ready to use. Our engineers are essentially customers of this internal platform that supports fast, safe delivery.
We have many different teams that have different great ideas. If one team tries something new and it works better, great – we learn from it. If another team has a different approach because of product specifics or release schedules, that’s fine too. We give freedom to the teams to work, share their experiences, and then scale.
Of course, there are non-negotiables. When it comes to security and data privacy there is zero tolerance. These are areas where strict rules are absolutely necessary. I always tell the security people: everyone should be a little afraid of you, because these things must be perfect. But outside those critical areas, we don’t impose rules that slow teams down. We experiment, gather feedback, adjust, and keep improving.
We’re constantly researching, experimenting, and customizing our automation depending on the product and the market. But when it comes to system design, we don’t reinvent the wheel. We choose globally recognized tools and industry-validated technologies. So yes, we empower engineers with automation and the right tools, built on a solid, modern foundation.
How does culture work for you – is it an achievement, or part of your routine?
Culture is a critical element in balancing speed and stability. Tools and processes matter, but culture is what truly empowers a team and keeps everything together at scale.
For us, culture starts with giving people freedom: the freedom to experiment, the freedom to make mistakes, and the freedom to challenge ideas. We don’t want engineers to be afraid of trying something new. We build a culture where mistakes are acceptable and manageable. If we try something and it doesn’t work, great – now we know better. We learn, adjust, and move on.
We encourage ideas from every level. Some of our most interesting insights come from developers who notice something while working on a small task. They can come directly to me or to the CTO and say, “I see a problem here.” It’s completely okay. A small detail in one corner of the system can become a huge issue at scale, so we listen. That’s how we avoid blind spots.
We also give teams autonomy. Small teams can make their own decisions and experiment in their own ways. If different teams want to do things differently, that’s fine – as long as they validate everything and share their findings. We want people to help each other and to understand that even top engineers have ups and downs. Even senior management makes mistakes. I constantly ask my team: “If I make a wrong decision, tell me.” It’s not about transparency as a buzzword – it’s about behavior. People observe how you respond, and they learn from that.
The biggest mistake any leader can make is demotivating people. We work with intelligent, educated, passionate professionals. They want to contribute. You just need to give them the space to do it. That’s when you see people shine and bring forward brilliant ideas.
As for the question of whether culture is an achievement or a routine – for us, it’s definitely a routine. People often talk about “building a strong engineering culture” as if it’s a success. We treat it as a routine as a process. Culture is the daily interactions between people in an organization. Those interactions change: people come and go, someone has a bad day, someone disagrees with a decision. Culture is shaped every day by how we communicate, how we argue, how we respect each other, and how we resolve differences.
Going to a colleague in the kitchen and asking, “Hey, what do you think about this?” – that’s culture. Anyone can talk to anyone, openly. And when engineers realize they can make a real impact, that they are heard, that they can influence the product — that motivates them. That’s what keeps the culture alive.
How do you balance standards with creative freedom?
The first thing is that we don’t pressure people. We set strict standards only where they are truly critical for the business. Security, data privacy, stability at scale – those areas demand clear rules. But everywhere else, we try not to push people. And when we do introduce a standard or guideline, we listen carefully to feedback. If the team tells us we made the wrong call, that’s okay – we rethink it and look for better approaches.
The second thing is that as the projects grow, the teams scale as well. Even in the design phase, we don’t start with a huge team. I prefer a small group: one key person who leads the design initiative, plus two or three contributors who constantly review, test, question, and give feedback. If three or four people align in one direction, that’s a good signal we’re on the right track. Then we take that proposal to a larger group – people who might use it or need it.. We refine it again based on their input. The idea evolves, but we don’t need to start from the beginning.
Finally, when we have a strong direction, we present it to the entire tech team. And even then – even if top management already supports the decision – it’s completely acceptable for a mid-level developer to raise concerns. Maybe they’ve seen something before, maybe they read an article, maybe they faced a similar issue. We listen, because at scale, one overlooked detail can cost millions.
So once again, balancing standards with creative freedom is about scaling the processes step by step: we start with a small group, validate in small cycles, and then scale the decision up gradually. This approach protects creativity, ensures high quality, and keeps us aligned. And combined with our culture, it makes the process both fast and safe.
The post Scaling With Purpose: RedCore’s Tech Vision Explained appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Super Group Comments on United Kingdom Autumn Statement
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Super Group (SGHC) Limited, the parent company of Betway, a leading online sports betting and gaming business, and Spin, the multi-brand online casino, notes the United Kingdom Autumn announcement:
In this Autumn Statement, the UK government announced increases to gambling duties: Remote Gaming Duty (iGaming) will rise by +19 percentage points (from 21% to 40%), effective April 2026 and General Betting Duty (Online Sports Betting) will rise by +10 percentage points (from 15% to 25%), effective April 2027.
Neal Menashe, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Super Group supports the reasonable taxation of online gaming in the UK. We rely on the government to ensure that today’s very substantial increase should be paired with robust and strict enforcement against non-paying offshore operators. This is essential to protect the regulated sector’s investment in jobs, technology, and responsible gaming in the UK.”
Alinda van Wyk, Chief Financial Officer, commented: “Going forward, we estimate that these new tax increases will have an impact of approximately 6% to our 2026 Group Adjusted EBITDA. However, Super Group already has several mitigation levers in motion, which are intended to offset the tax impact. Our strategy remains unchanged: sustainable growth and disciplined capital allocation. We don’t expect today’s news to alter our long-term trajectory nor our capital return priorities.”
The post Super Group Comments on United Kingdom Autumn Statement appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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