Gaming Colossus Tencent Added to US Blacklist, Accused of Ties to Chinese Military

It's about god damn time keep that scummy company out

I've always been wary of Tencent and its acquisitions. Way more so than Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo because those at least have a stake in the game with their own hardware and a long history in the industry.

Definately not a fan of Tencent, but I think if they buy out Ubisoft they really could shake the studio up and get them back to their "golden era".

What a rough start to 2025 by Tencent.

Tencent is poison but this is way over the top.

I'm just surprised it took so long.

What does this mean for their games and studios, a few which are western like Riot Games, Techland and Sumo Digital. Will they be forced to stop releasing games in the US.

The world has gotten too small.

Also for those who have a problem with tencent can I ask why? What have they done (gaming related) that makes you not like them as a publisher? Or is it simply because they are Chinese.

I'm all for good Anti-Trust-Law, but when it comes to the US there's no one more pathetic when it comes to chinese companies. The whole thing is a farce and pure actionism by the regulators. Just like the laughable TikTok-ban.

@themightyant make an educated guess haha

I don’t mess with Tencent but I wish we also had this energy for companies tied to the US Military, gaming or not.

Just don’t take TikTok away from us!!

@PorkChopExpress rather too big for US political hegemony

@UltimateOtaku91 I think it's a little bit of both. Tencent is a mammoth corporation with a propensity for gobbling up any vulnerable gaming companies. However, I think the majority of the suspicion comes from it's inevitable ties to the CCP. While that is completely unavoidable for any Chinese company (if the CCP says "jump," any Chinese company is obligated to ask "how high?"), there are also reports that many of the higher execs at Tencent are very closely tied to the CCP.

It's the same security concerns that a lot of Western governments have with Chinese companies (i.e. Tik Tok). No matter how much a Chinese company can say the don't share user data, they are legally obligated to share that info with the Chinese government if it's demanded.

Pretty much every large Chinese company has some sort of ties to their military. There is no doubt their military benefits at the very least financially from Tencent, but likely receives data they can use for all sorts applications. Many of these games listen to VC, that alone would be interesting from an intelligence perspective. Plenty of people worth monitoring play games. They could learn a lot just listening to a group of Army guys play a war game, or monitor a guy from R&D hoping to hear them talk about a project with others online. There's also a possibility they have some sort of backdoor into system data through their games/applications that give them access to computer files. And then there's always those annoying TOS we have to agree to that no one reads which could give them the legal right to do so simply because you wanted to play Valorant and agreed to it. None of us can say for sure if this is warranted or not, but I'd honestly be surprised if Tencent wasn't helping their military in one way or another.

@themightyant I get what you're saying, but this doesn't really have anything to do with outrage, per se. This has to do with security concerns for the US government. Ties to the military of a foreign adversary is a much different situation to ties with our own, regardless of how you feel about the military industrial complex.

@UltimateOtaku91 To answer your first question, it won't change anything really. The "blacklist" is an advisory. I think it's meant to discourage other companies from doing business with blacklisted companies, but there's no law prohibiting it.

@themightyant I personally am not a fan of either company 🤷🏽‍♂️ I don't get why or how people "like" MS or give them the benefit of the doubt either.

The timing of this is interesting - still under the Biden administration, but just barely, essentially forcing the Trump administration to take a look at this some time early this year.

In addition to the US-China politics involved here, there may be some partisan US politics involved.

Also, the US Supreme Court hears arguments this week about the law requiring Tik Tok to divest or be banned in the US.

@themightyant My own personal concerns with Tencent are twofold: 1 has to do with user data, but I have the same concerns with Western companies. However, that concern is amplified when that data is being used and manipulated by a foreign adversary. It doesn't mean that what the US is doing is any better, but at least they're on "our" team.

My second concern is as I said: big companies gobbling up competition, which is a concern I definitely have with Western companies and I don't view that concern any differently between Western or Eastern companies.

@themightyant I'm American, so the Devil is on my team.

Don't China ban a lot of American media for their military and cia ties? plus the propaganda of course.

@themightyant Thats the point. All US companies ties with military are well known. Even if a few kept secret, then they will be revealed sooner or later, due to freedom of journalists. But it is totally untrue in Asia, especially in China. Everything is under control, all are brainwashed in schools and very patriotic to the extreme. A few whistleblowers are sent to camp. So you know most of US and western countries involvement in foreign affairs. China don't do that? They are even worse, a massive bully, supporting dictators. It isn’t just in the news. So yeah proof/ evidence are not reliable in Asia as they can be easily made.
How do I know? I m originally from Asia, a Chinese descent born in a neighboring country.

Tencent is owned by the CCP so yea money is going to the military. I’m sure this is in retaliation to China adding 28 US companies to its export control list. It’s for companies that produce goods that can be used for both military and commercial. Don’t worry, this won’t affect anything that deals with video games.

Keep a lookout for hoyoverse too, they're building nuclear energy for the ccp and might also have tie with Chinese military weaponization.

Quality hypocrisy going on here whilst trump is willing to use force to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal and the musky scent of elon is sticking his nose right into UK politics 🤣

But Call Of Duty having clear links to the US military industrial complex is ok!

Rich boys playing with us as their toys. Feels like it’s all coming to a head, doesn’t it?😝

@themightyant There in lies the problem. They are not the same. You need to know first before you can say they are the same. Yes they are a bigger bully. As their neighbor, I make this claim with 100% certainty. You know all about US bullying around the world. Their media also say whatever they earn. But how much do you know about China? Prejudice? My own experience is prejudice?

I hate Tencent, but it is funny that people from the West (the US especially) will count this as a victory and then go on to buy every slop military shooter from studios with obvious connections to US intelligence or hire them as advisors for the games.

Its not okay all of a sudden cause its your "devil" that is just ridiculous and sounds like the type of brainwashing they accuse others of doing

@themightyant I don't think anyone is "outraged" that Tencent has ties to the Chinese military. This article is talking about a US government blacklist with regards to security concerns for US citizens. Just about every large corporation has ties to a governmental military apparatus in one way or another.

I love that everybody gets in a right tiz over anything to do with China especially when you all know who starts on about their human rights violations etc,etc,etc...but let's not forget that japan has a pretty bad history when it comes to human rights violations (ask the manchurin people about unit 731) but everybody's still using their playstations right? You know the ones manufactured in Japan. In fact every country in the world have their skeletons hidden away in the closet. If we boycotted everything we deem as unacceptable because it's made or financed by a disreputable company with ties to a country that's not socially acceptable then we would have a pretty boring and limited existence. I love the keyboard activists and everything they bring to the table..

Good job, Tencent. You fight against hegemony and have my support.

@themightyant Doesn't matter. I say they are not the same, based on my own experience.
I don't want to bring politics on game site but I can't stop feeling pity whenever I see someone comment- 'oh it is the same, you are just being monitored by either US gov or CCP'. They think all gov are the same. A big No, man. No gov is perfect but believe me you haven't experienced the worst. Only then you know the difference, one;y then you would more appreciate your gov which you thought is an utter rubbish. You may think I am exagerrating but some thing, you need to experience to believe it.

@Northern_munkey To be fair, those human rights abuses by Imperial Japan were during WW2. China is engaged in human rights violations today.

There have been many attempts in the past but if Trump tries to take away people's ability to buy certain games then he really will be kicked out of office this time. He should watch his footing here, China has infiltrated the US through numerous successful games.🤣

@wildcat_kickz that does not make it OK does it? Will China get a free pass in say 70 plus years time? Every country has blood on their hands no matter what decade it was spilled in. Exactly what does everybody hope to achieve by taking to video game comments sections to post their disapproval at corporate shenanigans other than to have their names (pseudonyms) for all to see for their 15 mins. Why can't we keep video games away from political discourses and people's personal agendas?

Trump will banned violet video games next because he use them as an excuse for most of the mass shooting that’s been happened in the states lately.

Looks like I’ll be buying more tencent games going forward

@Northern_munkey It definitely doesn't make it ok, but we live in the present, not 70 years ago or 70 years from now.

I didn't buy my PlayStation from Imperial Japan of 1942.

I'd rather do business with a country that committed atrocities 70 years ago than one that's committing atrocities today.

@wildcat_kickz I understand what you are saying and at least you are being honest but I'm sure you understand the point I'm making. There are way too many people who use pushsquare as their personal soap box to extoll the evils of China but fail to acknowledge any other country's misdemeanours until it fits their narrative. I am not lumping you in with those so don't think I am. Its good to have a discussion without it getting heated.

oh come on now the stock price will take even longer to get up

Yeah, yeah, whenever a Chinese company gets into a strong position where it's competing with US companies then they always pull stuff like this to hamper them. They did it to Huawei and now they are trying to do it to Tencent.

Americans good, everyone else baaaaad

@Northern_munkey Yeah, I totally get it. There are plenty of people who go full tilt in the comments and resort to ad hominem, which, in my opinion, automatically voids their arguments.

However, there are realities of being subject to the Chinese government, which cause legitimate problems and are fair to point out. You don't necessarily need to bring up a Western flaw to balance it and give the appearance of fairness, though I do understand when you say that there are plenty of people who refuse to even acknowledge the flaws in our own societies.

I do legitimately believe that the Chinese government is more malevolent than most counterparts, but that has nothing at all to do with the Chinese people. I spent the majority of my primary education at a predominantly Chinese school in a US Chinatown. I learned Mandarin, learned Chinese culture, music, history, etc. and loved it all.

If anything, I want more Chinese cultural exports, including video games. So many people have no idea how much wonder and inspiration comes from China and the Chinese people.

Yeah Tencent is very shady and them infecting gaming was never a good sign.

They really do. I'm glad that they are at least being exposed.

This is going to be a year of bans.

@MrMagic it works both ways I think. From my (admittedly very uneducated) view, it seems Chinese companies get a lot more freedom to operate in the West than Western companies get in China. Everyone's protecting their own interests.

@Northern_munkey There's absolutely no action you can take today to change abuses that happened 80 years ago.

There might be actions you can take today to affect abuses happening today. THAT is the difference, and it's a significant difference.

@wildcat_kickz Dunno about you yank maybe tell your government to pay your debt to China?

@RobN You do realize that there's almost no one left alive in Japan from that era, right? I don't blame modern Japanese people for the atrocities "some" of their ancestors committed...

@WiiWareWave You understand you're effectively making the same point I was making? You should be responding to @Northern_munkey who doesn't seem to recognize a moral difference.

@mrbone Actually, if we want a balanced view about France, why wouldn't we ask the English? Not ONLY the English, of course, but how can you get a balanced view without including them? The same goes for all your other examples - yes, listen to the critics, just not ONLY the critics.

I don't assume I understand much about China, to be honest - but I also believe that, politically, I understand why the US government sees them both as a partner (one of our largest trading partners, the largest outside North America) and as a potential threat (and I admit it's fair for China, and even other countries, to see the US much the same - recent rhetoric from our President-elect making that more understandable than normal).

@RobN Oops tagged the wrong person...sorry about that! 😅

USA motto: if you can't beat em, ban them 😂

Already predicted this is gonna happen when the orange guy won the presidential campaign.

It won't affect them because they are a Chinese company, but it would be another whole story if it was a company from another country, mainly Russia.

How do I know that? Well, ask Deepcool, just by being involved with a russian company they got banned.

@RobN I don't recognise a moral difference? Thankyou for letting me know and I'll bear that in mind 👍

I'll start believing it all when I see the Chinese Military fighting wearing Stellar Blade Eve's apparel and weapons.
Thats' the reason they buy the game companies, so they can take those ideas and adapt them to their military afterall.

@Northern_munkey While people are going on about humans rights and things, I think most people are missing the major point. In China no western companies have free and fair access to the market, and many companies are effectively straight up banned from entering the Chinese market.

That is what this is about, the same reason that Huawei got kicked out of the western markets. Not saying it’s right but it’s just basic tit for tat.

@ChrisDeku yes I understand all that too and all the implications that come along with it. This article has nothing to do with gaming at all apart from the fact it names tencent and that's it. It's a political article and has no place here.

@Balosi that's true but the difference is China safeguards their own market while the US does stuff like this to hurt Chinese companies globally.

@wildcat_kickz
Perfectly stated. There’s a lot of delusional and very misinformedarguments in these comments. Tenant has direct ties to the CCP. No one‘s issues with China have anything to do with the Chinese people; it has everything to do with the Chinese government. I have endless criticisms of our US government, but the Chinese government is on a completely different level with their exertion of control and human rights violations. People trying to stir controversy by claiming xenophobia need to grow up. Also, anyone who wants to speak on this topic should research what China has done to the Uyghurs.

@Northern_munkey I think politically slanted articles certainly have a place here, but I do understand and agree with the frustration of seeing politics infect everything on the website. For example, it would be really nice if Push Square could publish an article about Naughty Dog that didn't devolve into commentary on wokeness, Israel, etc.