Inside Tencent's long-term strategy: live service, AI tools, and evergreen titles

GamesIndustry.biz details Tencent’s long-term games strategy as the company leans into live service, evergreen IP, and studio support tools rather than chasing a single template. Yong-yi Zhu, VP and head of operations, strategy and compliance at Tencent Games, calls live service the “holy grail,” but frames it as part of a broader goal: building games and franchises that keep communities engaged over time.

That strategy is playing out across Tencent’s portfolio, which includes studios such as Funcom, Grinding Gear Games, Digital Extremes, Miniclip, Sumo Digital, Fat Shark, Sharkmob, 10 Chambers, and Stunlock. Zhu says Tencent is less focused on where it expands next and more on helping existing teams ship successfully, with support ranging from regional publishing and backend services to testing, analysis, and technical help on shared problems like Unreal Engine.

The company is also comfortable with some studios going independent when the fit no longer makes sense. Zhu says Tencent looks at whether the partnership is mutually useful and whether the studio’s direction matches Tencent’s long-term strategy, adding that not every acquisition is a slam dunk. He also pushes back on the idea that Tencent only wants huge bets, saying the company still looks at games across all scales and values studios that can grow deliberately over time.

For developers, the practical takeaway is that Tencent appears to be positioning itself as a stability-and-scale partner: one that can add operational muscle, publishing reach, and technical expertise without necessarily taking over creative...