“Tencent are really expert at taking things that work in the West and making Chinese versions of them, plus they have so much reach, partnerships with celebrities and understand the Chinese media.”Īlready, he added, Japan has become one of War Dragons’ top markets, but Liu anticipates that the Chinese gaming market - which is already larger than the U.S. “Our hope is but we’re not there yet,” he said. Currently, neither of its titles are available in Chinese language - or with localized gameplay for China - but Liu said he is aiming to address that in the future with help from Tencent. Liu said that, to date, Tencent had been fairly hands-on helping his team develop its games and future strategy although it doesn’t have distribution arrangement. “We think we’re pretty unique because we are able to make products for different audiences and both are successful,” Pocket Gems CEO Ben Liu told TechCrunch in an interview. Pocket Gems said 2016 was a record for sales and gamers, but it did not disclose figures. App analytics company Sensor Tower estimates that revenue for April reached $17.5 million which, if maintained, would put the company on course to surpass $200 million in sales this year. Pocket Gems, which was founded in 2009, claims to have notched 300 million downloads to date and its monetization efforts appear to be picking up steam. That’s particularly impressive given that the company is known for just two titles: Episode, an interactive storytelling game predominantly used by women, and 3D strategy game War Dragons, which is a bigger hit among male gamers. That deal, the Journal said, takes Tencent’s equity to 38 percent, giving Pocket Gems a valuation of around $600 million. This time around the Wall Street Journal reported the investment as $90 million, which TechCrunch has confirmed independently. Tencent invested in Pocket Gems back in 2015, when it put in a reported $60 million for a 20 percent stake. Chinese internet Tencent has continued its recent investment spree after it backed U.S.-based game studio Pocket Gems to the tune of $90 million.
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