Tencent coughs up $27m for 49% stake in Singapore game company

It’s no secret that Chinese social media superpower Tencent sees gaming as a big part of its future. So it shouldn’t be all that surprising that it was willing to spend US$27-million for a 49% stake in Singapore gaming company Level Up.

According to TechNode, the deal was confirmed in Tencent’s semi-annual report, after first being penned back in January.

The acquisition adds to the company’s arsenal of gaming properties, which includes a minority stake in Epic Games, the studio behind titles including Gears of War and Infinity Blade, for instance. Its own mobile gaming platform Mobile QQ Game Hall meanwhile hit the 200-million user mark earlier this year, with peaks of to 8.8-million people playing simultaneously.

In July meanwhile it announced a partnership with Activision Blizzard, granting it the exclusive rights to distribute Call of Duty Online in the country.

Games have now become such a key part of the company’s strategy that they accounted for US$875-million of its reported US$1.72-billion in revenue during the last financial quarter.

According to Tencent president Martin Lau, Tencent now lays claim to around 30% of China’s social and web gaming market.