Tencent working on mobile version of hit console game 'Elden Ring'

[The_Mask]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tenc ... 024-02-06/

Tencent working on mobile version of hit console game 'Elden Ring', sources say
By Josh Ye
February 6, 202412:32 AM EST



HONG KONG, Feb 6 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), opens new tab has been working to adapt acclaimed action role-playing console game "Elden Ring" into a mobile version, three people familiar with the matter said, as it searches for a new hit to refresh its ageing stock of games.

The world's largest gaming company by revenue acquired the licensing rights for the game by FromSoftware in 2022 and set up a team of a few dozen people to work on a prototype, the same year it bought a 16% stake in the Japanese game maker, the people said. But progress has been slow, they added.
Tencent did not disclose its plans to develop a mobile version of the game at the time. "Elden Ring" was co-developed by "Game of Thrones" author George R. R. Martin and veteran game designer Hidetaka Miyazaki and is an action game where one battles mythical monsters in a fantasy world.

The game, released in 2022 for $60, sold about 20 million copies in its first year, making it the world's second best-selling game for the year. Its fans include billionaire Elon Musk.

While "Elden Ring" was designed as a premium game with a set price tag, Tencent wants to make it a free-to-play game with in-app purchases, similar to the hit game "Genshin Impact" developed by its Chinese rival miHoYo, the people said.

But the design of "Elden Ring", which focuses on a complete experience after a one-time purchase, is at odds with Tencent's planned model.
Tencent and FromSoftware did not respond to requests for comment. The sources declined to be named as they were not permitted to speak to media.
Tencent has previously encountered issues with adapting big console games for smartphones. It axed a project based on the popular "Nier" franchise in December over monetization concerns.

Tencent has in the past year become more conservative in pursuing a game based on another company's franchise as growth in the gaming market plateaus and hefty royalty fee can leave a game barely profitable.

Beijing's opaque game approval system may also leave a finished game hanging for months, if not years, before release.
Still urgency for Tencent to find a new hit is growing, with its chairman saying that its gaming business was under threat.
While Tencent's past hits such as "PUBG Mobile" continue to deliver strong revenue, more recent products have fallen short of expectations.

Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Brenda Goh and Himani Sarkar

[Orvas Dren]

While "Elden Ring" was designed as a premium game with a set price tag, Tencent wants to make it a free-to-play game with in-app purchases, similar to the hit game "Genshin Impact" developed by its Chinese rival miHoYo, the people said.

The Chinese gaming industry forming artificially rather than organically like its Western and Japanese counterparts has had disastrous effects. They never went through the phase where passionate autists make niche games out of passion or anything like that, and instead just skipped straight to microtransactions as an industry standard. That's only starting to change now and, even then, it's an extreme minority.

[Magick]

They also seem to be diving into just copying / buying other games and franchises, along with a few crappy overly flashy MMOs.

Have they made anything new that's notable?

I played through Doom 1 & 2 recently and miss when games were made by a dude and his mates in his bedroom or garage. They were much longer and much better content / gameplay than most "modern" ones, that seem to forget they're making a GAME.

[Orvas Dren]

They also seem to be diving into just copying / buying other games and franchises, along with a few crappy overly flashy MMOs.

Have they made anything new that's notable?

No, absolutely zero. I think the only "big name" publisher in China that's been making anything of note recently is Bilibili lol. Rest is just smaller independent studios and the like (to my knowledge).

[rusty_shackleford]

****** don't make things, they're digital *******

[wndrbr]

tencent is basically asian version of thq nordic/embracer

[Nooneatall]

China makes really good indie wuxia games. That's about it.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

China makes really good indie wuxia games. That's about it.

Ho to Lu Shu Book of Dragon is a Chinese top down RTWP CRPG with an English fan translation mod available on the Steam workshop. I played it for a few hours, seemed good but CRPGs aren't really my thing. I struggled through Shadowrun Dragonfall and never finished Hong Kong.

Gujian 3 was an action RPG, seemed good but the PC version had issues, your save (for a singleplayer game) was stored on servers, and I'm not really into action combat, so I dropped it after exiting the cave level. Also the story didn't hook me.

I've heard that the Chinese Paladin/Sword & Fairy series plays the most like turn based JRPGs so if I play Chinese RPGs again I might try that.

[Nemesis]

Eldren Bling