USA says STOP. Investments by Chinese companies will end

The United States government is examining the possibility of forcing the Chinese gaming giant, Tencent, to sell shares in American gaming companies. The case is related to concerns about national security and the Chinese company’s potential access to the data of millions of players from around the world.

Top administration officials are conducting internal consultations to consider whether Tencent’s investments in U.S. studios should be maintained. A government-level meeting on this matter was reportedly scheduled for today, but was postponed due to conflicts in the decision-makers’ calendars.

Nevertheless, a decision may be made relatively quickly. In April, President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping in China, so the administration will probably want to sort out this issue before talks with Beijing.

Importantly, the investigation did not start in the current term. The review of Tencent’s investments was initiated during the first Donald Trump administration by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). However, during Joe Biden’s administration, differences of opinion emerged between individual federal agencies.

The Justice Department has argued for stronger action, including forcing the Chinese company to sell its shares. The Treasury Department, in turn, favored a more lenient solution that would allow Tencent to retain its investments. The lack of agreement meant that the proceedings remained unresolved for a long time.

Tencent has significant stakes in many important studios related to the US market. The company owns Riot Games, responsible for titles such as League of Legends and Valorant. Its portfolio also includes Turtle Rock Studios, creator of the Back 4 Blood game. Additionally, the Chinese company controls approximately 35 percent of shares in EPIC Games, the studio behind the global phenomenon Fortnite.

However, the American authorities are not only afraid of direct investments in local companies. According to reports, access to data of US citizens through games created by studios outside the United States may also be a problem. In this context, the Finnish Supercell, known for the extremely popular mobile strategy Clash of Clans, is mentioned.

One of the scenarios being considered is to be a solution similar to the one used in the case of TikTok. As a compromise, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established, in which the majority stake is controlled by American investors such as Oracle or MGX. The new structure is responsible for, among others: for protecting US users’ data, algorithm security and content moderation.