Calm down bro xD. I don't see how Shawn Layden going to Tencent as an advisor, has ANY bearing on the things you're bringing up.
Not saying those point's aren't worth discussing: I think a lot of them are. But Shawn Layden going to Tencent has no bearing on any of the things mentioned in your post.
Nah. Didn't Sony pick up a couple of ex-Capcom people not too long ago? Yet SFVI and RE Remake are both multiplat releases. I don't think there's a direct correlation.
Yeah the CCP has had a few issues with Tencent the past couple of years, I'm interested if there's a growing rift between them behind the scenes. Maybe Tencent wants to become a legitimate conglomerate not bound by the CCP's controlling hand; they have a lot of work to do in order to make that happen.
Of course I'm still weary of strengthening ties between Tencent & Sony for a few reasons, some maybe based on bad information and others just because of what that can entail for further acquisitions, but I understand the logic behind a potential scenario where they enter a strategic partnership or alliance. If it becomes a game of money to compete with entities like Microsoft and...well, honestly Microsoft are the only ones of the massive megacorps who've purchased huge publishers over the past few years and are the only one who've publicly mentioned they are looking to buy even more publishers in the future. It's hard to throw Apple, Google, Amazon etc. into this when they haven't made such purchases and haven't mentioned any plans to do so.
So basically, if this is about Sony having a means of better matching Microsoft WRT potential acquisition targets, or solidifying investments in the Asian game development scene, then a strategic partnership with a company like Tencent probably makes a lot of sense. It might also explain in part why we've seen the two invest shares into several of the same targets (Epic, Kadokawa, From Software etc.).
I can see @David Jaffe rioting later tonight in his next stream
Nah, it's smarter for them to continue covering all platforms, specially mobile. But having Shawn will help them have a better relationship with Sony and current or former Sony (and friend studios) executives plus will give them maybe some extra insight from US console market.
Tencent is a private company unrelated to the Chinese government who doesn't censor and in fact doesn't ask to change anything to the foreign studios they acquire or invest on, something that US companies do.
Chinese instead what they do when investing on something foreigner is to invest in something that already works well and knows that market. They support them with money and extra resources they may need to help them work even better, and they collect dividends on a win/win situation. They don't have the mentality of the western countries and particularly USA of conquering and forcing their views and strategy on the conquered ("acquired" in the corporate area) ones.
I have friends in several acquired or invested game studios from Tencent and all of them say that. Some of them even were close friends of the (European) Tencent Europe execs before Tencent invested/bought them, so they for sure know their real plans. Plus there are several known people who also publicly claimed that.
Tencent will bet on multiplatform and won't change their acquired studios to change anything from their games. They will only give them money and help from their other game studios to grow and enter and become stronger in markets like China and mobile if want to do so and if they weren't already there.
I hope this is actually true WRT Tencent because there have been a couple of reports or rumors that paint a different picture of them. Of course, it's basically a game of hearsay so there's not much telling who's being honest and who's lying. I just remember folks like Alanah Pearce seemingly bringing up certain types of censorship with them, but again no telling if that rumor is even true.
If Tencent are fully unrelated to the CCP, then if there's any clarification on things regarding that relationship I've heard of like the Tencent board members with active ties to CCP seats, or some of the social monitoring apps they've either helped develop for or fund for the CCP, then that'd be appreciated. I'm definitely open to the idea that a lot of the messaging around the company from Western info sources has probably had a politically motivated slant to it, but I also can't 100% buy the idea Tencent are just a totally innocuous company, either.
Often, the truth lies somewhere in the middle but if that truth doesn't make them any fundamentally different from a Microsoft, Apple, Google etc. then to a large degree I'd understand the sentiment that special fearmongering towards Tencent is likely undeserved.
