Jawmuncher
Member
I hope tencent buys steam and Nintendo
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Tencent on an all-out war with Steam in China which is part of Asia
- Thread starter Castef
- Start date
truestatic
Member
I hope your sacred cows get slaughtered too.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I seriously doubt WePlay would come here, at least I hope so. Steam has a nice holding here in my country.
Oh thank god.
Oh thank god.
No Dino Crisis or Snake in Smash for you!
YianGaruga
Banned
They should buy Capcom and make a Dino Crisis MOBA
EdwardTivrusky
Member
Lol, that's one way to stir the shit for sure.
I hope they work with Capcpom to release a China only version of Dino Crisis that isn't a pacislot machine
They did announce a week ago that they had a huge warchest put aside to acquire devs and publish more so i do wonder if that was related to releases for the China/Asia market only or if they are looking to come after Steam in the West soon too?
edit: Poor jawmuncher, *pow* right in the feathers!
Trogdor1123
Member
I really don't want another digital store to deal with... Someone needs to write a program that pulls your content from all the providers and makes them all accessible in one program.
But buying exclusive rights to sell something means less competition.
While Steam as a platform doesn't really have competition, as devs are free to sell everywhere, as a store they do have.
Sure, if competition wants a piece of the cake, they need to be better. Getting exclusive rights is not the way to do it.
There was one, but it's unfortunately dead now. Horizon Launcher.
This is only "new" in the sense that Rocket League (for instance) was originally on Steam in China, and now it isn't.
Take a step back and look at Blizzard - none of their games have ever been on Steam. They don't "compete" with Steam, because WoW, Overwatch etc. aren't on there.
It's a weird middle-ground between the openness of PC gaming as known in the past, and the exclusivity deals of console gaming.
Evolution of Metal
Member
Nobody in the west would even consider installing another client if it wasn't for exclusives. B.net, Origin and even Uplay have better layouts and design.
'anti consumer practices are good for competition!'
Jack The Nipper
Banned
I guess steam could say if you do that your off the store for the world, such in the case of Rocket League, would that be worth it for them then?
Not that I think steam would ever do that but they will lose china if they don't do something big.
Not that I think steam would ever do that but they will lose china if they don't do something big.
Doing business in China for a Western company is tough though. It's not like you can set up shop with your business and go. There are a lot of regulations to handle.
Doubtful because doing business in China is different than the rest of the world. What is the end game? They weren't going to ever be huge in China without some sort of partnership with a Chinese company who will want most of the revenue.
And foreign companies have to partner with a Chinese one to do business.
GhostTrick
Banned
Jack The Nipper
Banned
You don't want them making head way outside of china though, IMO I don't think it is good for gaming overall either.
Yeah, definitely. I'm no expert, but even a quick Google reveals issues with China and Western companies.
Why foreign companies are shutting shop in China
Foreign companies in China hit by new exchange controls
Foreign Firms in China Say They Are Less Welcome Than in the Past
I think, to a certain extent, Valve have made amazing headway in a country that's so protective and nationalistic.
Thanks but no thanks, I will keep myself to GOG, not dealing with DRM is the way to go.
Lol, tencent doesn't make enough revenue to have the money to buy Nintendo, not even close.
Lol, tencent doesn't make enough revenue to have the money to buy Nintendo, not even close.
Now you can't even buy Rocket League on Steam if you are using a Chinese steam account. I guess if they could make H1Z1 or Playerunknown's Battleground pass the government censorship they'll make them exclusive too. You know, they have Guan'xi. There is no way that Western publishers making their games passing the censorship screening in China on their own.
But that's not what Chinese players most worried about. They worry about the existence of Steam in China. Basically Steam operates in a grey area in China, if not their relationships with Perfect world since DOTA 2, they'll be long gone.
Lame.
But that's not what Chinese players most worried about. They worry about the existence of Steam in China. Basically Steam operates in a grey area in China, if not their relationships with Perfect world since DOTA 2, they'll be long gone.
Lame.
texhnolyze
Banned
You should take a look at seamspy. Some games have big Asian owners percentage. It's a growing market, and Tencent is definitely not an amateur in smelling where the money is going. They're the biggest gaming company in the world after all.
Its pretty shitty to basically do a deal where steam ALREADY has a game and now suddenly does not.
Imagine Sony paying a dev to immediately stop supporting Xbox or Nintendo and delist all their games from those networks.
What the hell kind of signal would that send
Imagine Sony paying a dev to immediately stop supporting Xbox or Nintendo and delist all their games from those networks.
What the hell kind of signal would that send
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
I wonder if Chinese owners will even be able to buy DLC or Keys going forward on their Steam account? I'm guessing not and would basically have to rebuy the whole game and then trade their inventory to themselves, provided they have 2 computers to actually do that.
nephilimdj
Member
I wonder if Valve will throw a hissy fit like when it changes to DLC revenue rules aimed at EA?
How far will Valve try to push "Washington State laws"
Rocket League's crafting system would be easy to change to make it a f2p game. Sure all they need to do is lock most of the content and change common/uncommon drops to some new currency.
How far will Valve try to push "Washington State laws"
Rocket League's crafting system would be easy to change to make it a f2p game. Sure all they need to do is lock most of the content and change common/uncommon drops to some new currency.
I know this is a dumb bait post but it won't get Snake into Smash 4 faster either.
I'm very curious about Wegame and what it brings to the industry. About time someone else comes through and attempts to do what Origin and Uplay failed to do.
CupONoodos
Neo Member
This is pretty fuckin big. China's market is HUGE and Tencent already being the juggernaut it is will almost certainly give Valve a run for their money. Really interested to see how things play out.
I think if you gift yourself DLC keys purchased from other geographic regions' stores they would work anyways? Not 100% sure...
Castef
Banned
Wait a second: today's news about exclusives are limited to China.
Yet they are clearly moving towards west, step by step.
Yep, buying exclusivity is always bullshit. I'll never support that. Not with books, movies, music, or games.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
i hope they come overseas and do price adjustments that valve doesnt do in my country and i would gladly jump ship
Atraveller
Banned
I don't appreciate this type of "competition". It doesn't help consumers at all but rather restricts their choices.
Good competition would be offering alternatives with superior feature sets that entice customers.
Taking away the option to buy specific games on specific platforms is the very definition of money-hatting, and helps no gamer.
How is this good for anyone in any way, shape or form?
Good competition would be offering alternatives with superior feature sets that entice customers.
Taking away the option to buy specific games on specific platforms is the very definition of money-hatting, and helps no gamer.
SmartWaffles
Member
They are building a similar gaming platform to expand diversity among their own userbase which primarily came from F2P games like League, I don't think at this point they are at a position to challenge Steam, nor do they want to try taking Chinese users away from it, but with time, more exclusive deals like RL, and (a big if) healthy relationship with local indie developers, I can definitely see it becoming a very attractive platform in the long run.
HOWEVER, the corporate culture and image of Tencent makes me very skeptical of them doing it right.
Also Psyonix negotiated with Tencent to put RL exclusively on Wegame, not the other way around. Source: press friends at a post press conference interview. The other games that had deals with them like Don't Starve, Stardew Valley and Stellaris are still openly available on Steam.
HOWEVER, the corporate culture and image of Tencent makes me very skeptical of them doing it right.
Also Psyonix negotiated with Tencent to put RL exclusively on Wegame, not the other way around. Source: press friends at a post press conference interview. The other games that had deals with them like Don't Starve, Stardew Valley and Stellaris are still openly available on Steam.
texhnolyze
Banned
At the end of the day, gamers will choose the best service and stay there. Even though they can buy the games, they'll face another problem. The games are hosted in the West, and it'll severly impact their latency. Latency is king in these kinds of online game.
Just saw this on Chuapp's Weibo (a Chinese video game / mobile game website).
When asked if Tencent made Rocket League exclusive in China on the press conference, the guy in charge basically went like "It's the developers' decision as they want to collaborate with us in China than simply sell the game to us." "We have nothing to do with Steam being censored or being slow or laggy for certain regions in China."
Yeah, the developer sure wanted to take their game off Steam.
Source:
When asked if Tencent made Rocket League exclusive in China on the press conference, the guy in charge basically went like "It's the developers' decision as they want to collaborate with us in China than simply sell the game to us." "We have nothing to do with Steam being censored or being slow or laggy for certain regions in China."
Yeah, the developer sure wanted to take their game off Steam.
Source:
Same here (Malaysia). Keep that exclusivity bullshit to China.
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
Rocket League actually has Asia-East servers though. I'm not sure exactly where they're located but RL definitely has a reasonable spread of coverage rather than all servers being in the west.
I don't think they have to do this, at least on a large scale standardized manner.
This is more of Tencent flexing its financial muscle than trying to compete with Valve in China. Valve will not win China, just like Tencent will not win the West. Asia is a toss up and rightly so.
Partly is because both audience are deeply entrenched in each companies ecosystem. No amount of superior service is going sway your target demographic when
1) they already have hundred of games in steam
2) their friends are all there
I don't know the equivalent of (1) for Tencent but they do owned LoL / Super Cell and have multiple partnership in most of the popular mobile games in China ( Candy Crush ? ). Even for traditional PC MMO, I reckon they are the top dog there. Point is, the Chinese are entrenched, price wars kinda of exclusive deals aren't really needed. But hey, what do I know about Tencent's strategic movements.
This is more of Tencent flexing its financial muscle than trying to compete with Valve in China. Valve will not win China, just like Tencent will not win the West. Asia is a toss up and rightly so.
Partly is because both audience are deeply entrenched in each companies ecosystem. No amount of superior service is going sway your target demographic when
1) they already have hundred of games in steam
2) their friends are all there
I don't know the equivalent of (1) for Tencent but they do owned LoL / Super Cell and have multiple partnership in most of the popular mobile games in China ( Candy Crush ? ). Even for traditional PC MMO, I reckon they are the top dog there. Point is, the Chinese are entrenched, price wars kinda of exclusive deals aren't really needed. But hey, what do I know about Tencent's strategic movements.
Chobel
Member
I know it's just business, but this is very shitty thing to do.
Could you expand on this? I know very little about Tencent beside that they're the publisher and owners of many successful F2P games.
Foreign expansion and investment is always a two-way street - translation, marketing, financial regulations, government help or hindrance, and nationalistic interests all affect what a Western company can do in China.
From one of the links I posted earlier.
Interfectum
Member
I'm not so sure, tbh.
Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc are all competing with each other and buying up exclusive rights to this and that. To combat that they all now offer original programming to entice people to their service.
What I'm trying to say is, maybe Valve will make HL3 and L4D3.
They are making a shit ton of money from their own mobile game called King of Glory which is a rip-off of (their own) LoL.
LOL Tencent made more profit in 2016 than Nintendo makes in revenue. (6 billion USD vs under 5 billion USD)
They made 20 billion USD in revenue.
People don't understand the size of Tencent. They're the facebook of China.
They made 1.5 billion alone with Wechat. FB wishes they could pull that with Whatsapp.