00:00China's Tencent Games is the world's largest video game publisher and one of the biggest forces in global gaming.
00:07Peter spoke to Mark Maslovich, Vice President of Partnerships and Investments at Tencent Games.
00:13The lower end of the industry, I think there's never been a better time for an individual or a small
00:19development team to bring a game to market.
00:21You know, thanks to the likes of platforms like Roblox and Steam or new game engines and new technologies around
00:27AI,
00:28I think an individual or a small team can bring a game to market easier than ever before.
00:35And then at the other end of the industry, I think with the big AAA titles, we're seeing games beginning
00:41to evolve more into live service games.
00:43So, you know, it's more than just a single product now.
00:46It's about a game becoming really an entertainment ecosystem that can live on over the years.
00:52Well, where do you see Tencent's role in that gaming ecosystem between the big names, the blockbuster names that you've
00:58mentioned, and the independent developers?
01:02Yeah, I mean, we like both.
01:03I mean, the reality of gaming is the smallest team in the world could make the biggest game in the
01:07world of tomorrow.
01:09But fundamentally, Tencent, you know, we're committed to gaming for the long term.
01:13We've, as you maybe suggest, we've been investing in gaming for a long time.
01:16We're going to continue to do that into the future as well.
01:18If there's a single area we look at, we like to believe in creative talent.
01:23You know, if you look across our portfolio, I think the thing that really is the common thread is development
01:29teams and creators who've proven they can create new IP.
01:33You know, creating something from nothing is one of the hardest things to do in this business.
01:37And that's something we believe in supporting very strongly.
01:40What qualities are you searching for?
01:42And is there a particular part of the world, particular region, even particular city that is churning out those type
01:51of ideas that you're looking for?
01:52I mean, games are coming from all over the world now.
01:55I think, you know, maybe if you go back 10, 20 years, there was a barrier to entry that meant,
02:00you know, you had to be professional developers with maybe significant funding to better release the game to market.
02:06And as I mentioned before, you know, thanks to new platforms and Roblox, Steam, etc., individuals can, in theory, compete
02:13with the biggest companies in the world.
02:15I would say fundamentally that at Tencent, you know, we play a lot of games.
02:19We have a lot of people who really love video games.
02:22And obviously the best way to find the best games and studios of tomorrow is to play the games and
02:28try and identify that creative talent.
02:30In my day, I would go to a shop, I would buy my video game, I would bring it home
02:34and I would play it.
02:35It's now changed to a lot of the online subscription services.
02:39There's also different ways of getting the game.
02:42You don't have to go to the shop.
02:43The way you're picking it up has changed.
02:46Were a Tencent looking to develop that part of the gaming business model and what does the future look like
02:52really in that sense?
02:53Yeah, I think, you know, games moving towards what we, you know, some would call a live service or a
02:58games as a service model is definitely, you know, where most of the big companies are looking.
03:03You know, as I said, it's no longer about just having a single product that you play and then move
03:08on to the next one.
03:09If you have a hit game, they're getting very, very expensive to make now.
03:13You want to try and make those games last.
03:15And players love them.
03:16You know, they want to spend time in those worlds with those characters.
03:19They don't necessarily want to be waiting five years for a sequel.
03:22So if you can find ways to extend the life of a game over a period of months and years,
03:27I think that's very much what gamers want and what we're looking to provide.
03:30Does that then allow you guys, of course, to make a lot more money out of those games?
03:35And, but let's say, because we will always want a sequel, it allows those sequels to ultimately be better.
03:40I mean, there will still be single player games that, you know, you buy and you do look for a
03:46sequel.
03:46But I would say in general, the games industry is moving more towards this live service model.
03:52Yeah, I mean, there are obviously ways you can monetize those, but I think you have to get the balance
03:57right.
03:57You know, we want games that, you know, people love playing and they want extra content.
04:02You know, content costs money to make.
04:04It's not unreasonable as a, you know, you pay for those.
04:07But it is about providing gamers experiences that they feel is value for money.
