Tencent Wants to Bring ‘Apex Legends’ to China (Report)

Tencent Holdings is in talks with Electronic Arts to distribute the publishers’ “Apex Legends” in China as of Friday, according to a “person with direct knowledge of the matter” the South China Morning Post reported.

Tencent, video game industry giant, already distributes top battle royale games “Fortnite” and “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” in China. While Tencent is massively successful, the company did take a hit in 2018 when Chinese government gaming restrictions affected its ability to distribute new online games.

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Getting the OK from publisher EA to bring “Apex Legends” to China would be a huge win for Tencent. The latest battle royale game is the most watched title on Twitch as of publication of this story, according to TwitchStats. The game is the second most streamed, as well. It’s neck-to-neck with “Fortnite” in both categories.

“Apex Legends,” which is developed by Respawn Entertainment, reached 25 million players as of Tuesday, just over a week after launch. It reached 2 million concurrent players during peak gameplay time during its first weekend, as well. The game is free to play on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Origin for PC.

Reached for comment Friday, a representative for EA told Variety that the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

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