Highlights

  • Tencent is reportedly working on new games similar to Palworld to capitalize on its success in the genre-mixing market.
  • Notable game developers under Tencent Games include Riot Games, LightSpeed Studios, and TiMi Studio Group.
  • Tencent's attempt to find the next big hit comes after recent challenges with cancellations and financial misfires.

Rumors are now abound that Chinese gaming giant Tencent is making two new games in the same vein as Palworld, capitalizing on the sleeper hit's genre-mixing popularity. Palworld has sold millions of copies since its release in January 2024, which is why it's not surprising that a developer looking for its next big profitable project would look to it for inspiration.

Tencent Games is the gaming division of the Chinese multinational conglomerate of the same name, which in itself groups together a number of smaller studios that produce its hits. Notable development teams under Tencent Games include Riot Games, LightSpeed Studios, and TiMi Studio Group, which respectively produced League of Legends, Undawn, and Call of Duty: Mobile, to name a few. It's through these properties that the holdings company has made its most money, and now it's banking on Palworld clones being the next big thing.

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A new report from Bloomberg revealed that LightSpeed and TiMi are apparently each working on their own Palworld clone, hoping to capture their own spark of popularity for Tencent. It's said that Tencent is looking for the next big gaming hit, especially after its games performance declined by 2% during the 2023 holiday season. The reason for two studios under Tencent working on the same kind of game is to eventually grind out quality output through heated internal competition, as it had managed to achieve success in the form of TiMi's Honor of Kings and LightSpeed's Peacekeeper Elite through this approach.

Tencent Is Not Having a Good Year So Far

Tencent's attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle comes in the face of some pretty big challenges it's run into so far in 2024. First, a report released by Reuters back in February 2024 revealed that the company had canceled a Nier mobile game that had been in development for two years. While fans of the game had preferred a new mainline entry on consoles, those who had wanted something new from the franchise may have been disappointed by this news.

Then, another "strategic shift" within Tencent reportedly forced it to delay the upcoming Assassin's Creed Jade to 2025. This mobile game in the Assassin's Creed franchise—which will supposedly play just like its console and PC counterparts—is set in ancient China.

Its latest misfire was the zombie shooter Undawn, which features the likeness of legendary Hollywood actor Will Smith front and center. It released back in June 2023 after costing $140 million to produce and underperformed, reporting only $300,000 in revenue in February 2024. It didn't help that Undawn didn't seem to be well-known outside China, with many gamers expressing surprise that Smith was involved in the game. With all this flop and its other unfortunate difficulties, the company may need to try every play possible to find a new runaway hit—it's now only a matter of whether gamers will bite.