Gaming Colossus Tencent Added to US Blacklist, Accused of Ties to Chinese Military | Push Square
Tencent, the juggernaut Chinese tech and gaming conglomerate, has been placed on a blacklist by the US Department of Defense.
Being on said blacklist doesn't impose sanctions or stop companies trading in the US, but it's designed to deter other companies from doing business with the blacklisted entities.
The blacklist was established following an executive order from then-president Donald Trump in 2020, which prevented companies in the US from investing in firms that have ties to the Chinese military. This is, supposedly, what Tencent is being accused of.
Tencent representative Danny Marti has provided a statement to The Verge, saying: «Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business. We will nonetheless work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding.»
Again, it can't be understated how massive an entity Tencent is. In terms of being relevant to PlayStation, it wholly owns numerous developers, such as Path of Exile 2's Grinding Gear Games, and Sumo Group — the parent company of Sumo Digital.
Most notably, Tencent owns Riot Games, the Los Angeles-based outfit behind League of Legends and its spin-off titles — many of which have appeared on PlayStation consoles over the last few years.
Beyond those examples, Tencent has majority stakes in various European developers like Techland (Dying Light) and Fatshark (Warhammer 40,000: Darktide).
It also has sizeable stakes in Don't Nod (the original Life is Strange, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden), Shift Up (Stellar Blade), Epic Games (Fortnite), Bloober Team (Silent Hill 2), FromSoftware (Elden Ring), Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake, Control), and more.
Recently, Tencent has been in the news because of its stake in longstanding French publisher Ubisoft. There have been reports that the Chinese corporation has been in talks to buy Ubisoft out.
Chinese giant Tencent in talks
Basically, Tencent has its fingers in a lot of pies, so being blacklisted like this makes for some juicy
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