League of Legendsthe most famous game with the most users in the world, has entered the game with a straight leg technological clash between China and the United States. Not directly, obviously, but through the multinational owner of the Riot Games development studio, Tencent. The Washington Department of Defense, in fact, has included it in the federal register of companies considered linked toBeijing army.
This inclusion does not entail direct sanctions for the company, but could limit its business with the US in the future, given that US companies are advised against doing business with companies present in the “blacklist”. The affair caused an immediate stock market crash for Tencent, with its shares plummeting 7% dropthe most significant since October 2024.
“We are not a company or a military supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this designation has no impact on our operations,” commented multinational spokesperson Danny Marti. “However, we will work with the Department of Defense to resolve any misunderstanding.” While Tencent CEO Ma Huateng issued an official statement in which he declared that the company is ready to bring the issue to courtif the Washington Department of Defense does not remove it from the list. The CEO also highlighted the fact that the US decision was “a mistake”.
Tencent, with its Tencent Games division, is a real colossus of the video game industry. Beyond League of Legends and its derivative products, such as Team Fight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra and a fighting game still in development, under the umbrella of Riot Games, is the owner of other studios such as Techland, developer of Dying Lightand many others.
It also owns shares in many leading companies in the sector, such as Epic Games, FromSoftware, Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft. And the latter, given the black crisis it is going through, could soon be added to the holdings of the Chinese titan.