Superman trumps Chinese military strategist to lead Tencent’s fight for US players
Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman are lending their superhero powers to China’s biggest online gaming company in its quest to conquer the US market
Tencent Holdings has enlisted the Justice League trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to spearhead its push to win more converts to its maiden mobile game set for release in the US on December 19, just in time for the holiday season.
Arena of Valour is the English version of Tencent’s chart-topping Honour of Kings, which has more than 200 million players in China. Honour of Kings, a mobile version of popular computer game League of Legends, was the top-grossing mobile game worldwide on both Android and Apple’s iOS platforms as of October, according to gaming data firm SuperData Research.
The success of Tencent’s first offering in the US could act as a barometer for Chinese brands to measure how they resonate in the world’s biggest economy and retail market. Several major mainland companies, from Tencent to China’s car companies, have been knocking on US doors for years without much success.
Just as Western brands found themselves having to customise their products and services for the China market to gain traction, mainland companies like Tencent are beginning to do the same with their own offerings in overseas markets.
In the third quarter this year, Tencent’s online games revenue grew 48 per cent year on year to 26.8 billion yuan (US$4 billion), driven by the success of Honour of Kings and other new titles.