ABSTRACT
Tencent’s influences in the cultural sphere show up in its two most popular and successful products and services: mobile chat and digital gaming. Tencent managed to monetize its mobile chat apps and value-added services, including QQ and WeChat, through a bittersweet relation with China’s major telecom carriers. The chapter also discovers Tencent’s roadmap toward becoming a global giant in the game industry. Tencent used the gaming sector as an entry point to gain transnational competitiveness and became vertically integrated from engine services to game development and publishing and distribution in the global game industry. Building upon its advantages in numbers of users, capital power, and global reach, Tencent has formed a cultural synergy of mobile and online communication, social networking, online entertainment, and gaming. The chapter ends with a critical evaluation of Tencent’s general transnationalization strategies.
