Tencent wants to invest $15 billion into esports
It looks like Chinese internet giant Tencent will be putting some serious cash into esports soon, as it recently revealed a five year plan to accelerate its esports expansion in China. The plan involves setting up leagues, tournaments, and associations, and also nurturing talent and constructing esports-themed parks in China.
The company wants to boost the already booming Chinese esports industry via its esports subsidiary pouring nearly $15 billion into the market. To put things in perspective, market researchers suggest that the global esports market will surpass the $1 billion margin sometime between 2017 and 2019.
Tencent is one of the most-involved company in gaming. It’s investments are widespread and include some of the biggest gaming companies. Tencent fully owns League of Legends developer Riot Games, has a minority stake in Activision Blizzard, and owns 84 percent of Finnish mobile game developer Supercell, to only name a few of its investments.
Gao Li, general manager of Tencent’s esports division, said there is still room for the company’s esports revenue to grow, however. Gao announced several agreements with the government and major Chinese companies, including smartphone maker Vivo, which will produce a customized phone for the King of Glory Professional League, a Tencent league.
Tencent had $21.9 billion annual revenue for 2016, it’s highest growth since 2012. The company’s strongest competitor, Alibaba, has pushed head-first into esports as well. Via its esports dedicated offshoot, Alisports, the company made headlines when it partnered with the Olympic Council of Asia to make esports a medal event at the Asian Games.
