Such is the nature of life: sooner or later, politics seeps into everything, even seemingly innocent realms. The U.S. Department of Defense has added Tencent Holdings, the largest gaming publisher and investor, to its special register of Chinese military companies.

Tencent owns Riot Games; Funcom, the creator of Dune: Awakening; and the British studio Sumo Digital. Additionally, Tencent holds controlling share in Techland, mobile studios Miniclip and Supercell, as well as a 35% of Epic Games. It also has significant parts in FromSoftware, Remedy, Krafton, Paradox Interactive, Kadokawa and Bloober Team. With plans to acquire Ubisoft, the situation becomes increasingly concerning.

Games from many of these companies were featured among the nominees at The Game Awards 2024. Tencent's enormous investments in the gaming industry are undeniable and could pose long-term risks.

Although the Pentagon's list does not impose specific sanctions, it complicates Tencent's operations in the U.S. and threatens potential challenges in the future. The current relationship between the U.S. and Chinese governments is far from friendly, which means the U.S. could impose sanctions on companies with Chinese ties at any moment. Such a move would be a massive blow to the gaming industry. The full consequences are difficult to predict at this point.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. After all, the U.S. government has yet to devise an effective solution for TikTok, a struggle that has dragged on for years.

Main image: unsplash.com

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