Tencent wants to work with Nintendo to attract "console game players in the U.S. and Europe"

Chinese megacorp Tencent has revealed it is looking to Nintendo to "learn the essence of making console games" for European and American gamers.

Though it already dominates the mobile market and had a stake in both Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, Tencent is looking to grow its audience outside of China, particularly in light of China's recent decision to impose game curfews on people under 18 years of age. The company is also in a partnership with Nintendo, too.

"What we want is to expand from China, and one target is console game players in the U.S. and Europe," a Tencent official - who asked not to be identified - told the Wall Street Journal. "We hope to create console games with Nintendo characters, and learn the essence of making console games from Nintendo engineers."

"Nintendo games are not constructed to make people pay a lot of money," another Tencent official added.

"Women are becoming a driving force behind the growth of the gaming market," analyst Daniel Ahmad told WSJ. "Chinese developers are not only shifting to create games aimed at female players, they are also tailoring existing games to better appeal to them."

Interestingly, this is backed up by reports Nintendo has asked external developers to focus on games designed to appeal to young women, "such as romance games, a genre with passionate fans including in China" according to the WSJ.

"Tencent is skillfully pursuing silent global domination, via expansion primarily in the form of major and minor investments in [video game] industry companies around the world without rebranding them as Tencent," added Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner at Niko Partners.

In other China-related gaming news, Blizzard has recently been accused of prioritising its Chinese business interests over freedom of speech by suspending Hearthstone player Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai for expressing pro-Hong Kong views. Although the company (somewhat) apologised for its handling of the issue, Blizzard subsequently announced it will not repeal the bans.

If you're interested in learning more about the attitudes surrounding gaming in China, Chris Tapsell recently published an in-depth piece about his experiences in the country.