Tencent slumped after taking another hit to its gaming business when regulators told the social media giant to remove Monster Hunter: World from its PC downloads service just days after the action title’s debut.
Parts of the Capcom hit failed to meet regulatory standards and the relevant authorities received a “significant amount of complaints”, which in turn spurred the government to revoke an operating licence, Tencent said in a statement without elaborating.
It’s the latest blow to Tencent’s gaming operation, which has faced a series of hiccups. The company hasn’t won the necessary approval to begin generating money from its marquee mobile game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and has yet to receive the green light for introducing the desktop version to China. That’s hobbled revenue growth at the Internet giant and contributed to a 15% slide in its stock since June.
“Tencent used to be world-class gaming and social media company, but has transformed into a massive multi-sector venture capital operation with important gaming and social media sidelines,” said Brock Silvers, MD of Kaiyuan Capital, a China-based advisory. “The recent fumbling of core gaming operations is a worrying trend, and investors can reasonably begin to ask if constant investment and competition with Alibaba are causing Tencent to lose focus.”
Tencent’s shares fell 2.2% in Hong Kong trading by 9.50am on Tuesday. Capcom fell less than 1% after plummeting almost 10% the day before. The news comes just days before Tencent releases its second quarter financials, during which investors will be inspecting company’s plans for adjustment in the second half.
While Tencent’s run into issues with the industry’s overseers in the past — notably when state media rounded on its in-house-developed Honour of Kings for allegedly encouraging addiction — it’s unusual for the giant Internet firm to encounter multiple obstacles at once.
The Radii blog first reported on the game’s suspension. Japanese studio Capcom’s title has sold more than eight million copies globally. The series, where players hunt the titular beasts, has been popular in Japan for over a decade. With the new title, Capcom redesigned many elements specifically tailored for Western audiences, such as including more online play and letting players move freely through the game. — Reported by Lulu Yilun Chen, with assistance from Shelly Banjo, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP