The Popular US Gaming Company That's Owned By China

Just because a company seems to be self-owned and self-funded doesn't mean that is the case. Riot Games, best known for the online games "League of Legends" and "Valorant," is typically looked at as a U.S. game developer. It's a fair assumption, given that the company was originally founded in Santa Monica back in 2006 and is still headquartered in Los Angeles. Add to that the fact that Riot publishes all of its own games, and it would seem that there isn't much doubt that it's an American-owned company through and through. However, Riot Games is actually a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent, a Chinese multimedia conglomerate. 

Riot Games received various rounds of funding over the years from venture capital firms like Benchmark Capital and Firstmark, but Tencent first got into business with the developer back in 2009 when it was still gearing up to release "League of Legends." Initially, Tencent was just an investor in Riot Games, while also agreeing to help publish "League" in Tencent's native China. Over the next few years, Tencent gradually upped its stake in Riot Games, purchasing more and more of the company. In 2011, Tencent made its biggest move yet, gaining over 90% control, and by 2015, it finished the job when Riot Games became a full subsidiary of the Chinese corporation.

It certainly isn't just Riot Games that Tencent has used to expand its global gaming portfolio. The company has a stake in many game developers and publishers around the world, including not only other U.S. developers but companies in Europe, Asia, and beyond. While Riot Games is the only outfit that Tencent has taken full control of so far, Tencent does currently hold a rather sizeable 40% stake in Epic Games. This not only gives it a huge piece of the massively successful "Fortnite," but any game that is made with Epic's Unreal Engine — which is a staggering amount of titles.

Given that it typically costs at least nine figures, sometimes even 10, to make a AAA video game these days, most developers either don't have that kind of cash to spend or can't afford to risk it without a financial safety net. Tencent also owns 30% of Larian Games, developer of the award-winning "Baldur's Gate 3," with the only other stakeholders in Larian being the developer's CEO and his wife. FromSoftware, maker of the various beloved Soulslike titles that include "Dark Souls," "Elden Ring," and "Bloodborne," has ceded 16% control to Tencent. 

Among the other noteworthy game companies that Tencent has bought into are Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Remedy, Platinum Games, and Funcom — just to name a few.