Chinese ownership of US video game companies is reportedly under scrutiny by the US government, which is investigating a possible security risk.
The video game industry is in an unenviable position. Private investment in games has drastically decreased, gaming hardware is becoming more and more expensive, and the situation is not helped by the friction between the United States of America and China.
Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have threatened the video game industry in various ways for years, with the latest potential problem linked to Chinese ownership of American companies, specifically in the gaming sector.
As The Financial Times reports, the US government is reportedly conducting an investigation into the Chinese company’s investments Tencent into American video game manufacturers. The investigation is carried out with the aim of establishing whether Tencent’s ownership of US companies poses a security threat to the USgiven that there are suspicions that Tencent has links to the Chinese military.
Tencent is by the way owner of Riot Gamesand they also have a significant ownership stake (28%) in Epic Games. As Riot and Epic games are among the most popular games on the market, there are fears in the US that China has too many opportunities to potentially access the data of American players.
It is not entirely clear what might happen if the US government determines that Tencent’s investments pose a security threat to the US. However, it is likely that in that case it could be banned, and that would create new problems for the American video game industry.