Huawei has pulled Tencent games like Arena of Valor from its app store because of a “big change” Tencent made in how the companies work together, according to a Bloomberg report. Huawei dominates the Chinese mobile market, accounting for 43 percent of smartphone shipments last quarter. Tencent, meanwhile owns the companies behind League of Legends and Clash of Clans, while operating local versions of games like PUBG and Monster Hunter: World. As such, the dispute could impact a lot of mobile gamers in the nation.
Huawei told Bloomberg that its legal department recommended the decision because Tencent was asking to halt cooperation. Tencent, meanwhile, said that an agreement between the companies expired before a new one could be struck. All its titles disappeared from Huawei’s Chinese store early this morning (January 1st).
Mobile gamers in China have seen a lot of games disappear recently for multiple reasons. For instance, Apple just pulled 39,000 games in its App Store because they lacked an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) from the Chinese government. Many Western titles were included in the purge, including Assassin’s Creed Identity and NBA 2K20, leaving just 74 of the top 1,500 paid games.
As usual in cases like this, it’s the users who end up suffering. “We are communicating and negotiating with Huawei’s mobile game platform for a solution, and hope to resume our services soonest possible,” Tencent said in a statement.
Update (11:30 AM ET): Reuters reports that the Tencent games have been restored after further negotiations, with a statement from the company that “both sides will continue to work together to bring better experiences and services to consumers.”
Author: Steve Dent, @stevetdent
5h ago
Source: Engadget
