Key information
Tencent Games has outlined a major strategy to dominate the role-playing game genre by finding and supporting creators who possess a strong individual identity. Yong-yi Zhu, vice president of Tencent Games and head of operations, strategy, and compliance, shared these ambitions in an interview with Christopher Dring of The Game Business.
The strategy rejects the industry habit of blindly copying existing successes across different regions in favor of supporting teams capable of continuous improvement. The company explicitly designated FromSoftware's Elden Ring and Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 as its guiding polar stars.
Tencent acknowledges that reaching the level of these critical benchmarks requires long-term commitment rather than immediate results. Such monumental titles were built upon years of foundational studio work, pointing to Larian's previous Divinity titles and FromSoftware's entire Souls lineage from Demon's Souls through Sekiro and Bloodborne.
This long-range vision serves as an intentional retreat from the short-term live-service trend that has faced declining fortunes recently. The industry giant acknowledges the broader economic crisis affecting the gaming sector as it pursues leadership in the category within one or two projects.
