Tencent wants up to 70% of sales generated from its games

Tencent

HONG KONG: Tencent Holdings Ltd is pressing China’s top smartphone vendors and app stores to boost the cut of revenue it gets from games sold through their platforms, people familiar with the matter said, stepping up efforts to claw back profits as its business slows.

The social media giant is seeking as much as 70% of the sales generated from its games, up from just 50% now, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing private negotiations. That would bring Tencent’s portion in line with the proportion shared with game publishers on other platforms, including Apple Inc’s iOS store and Google Play, which each keep 30% of revenue that comes from apps. Negotiations vary from platform to platform, and Tencent may not be asking as much from each app store operator, the people said.