Tencent Holdings witnessed a significant rally in its shares, marking its biggest surge since December. This upswing followed the company’s announcement of an early release date for one of the highly anticipated mobile games of the year, ‘Dungeon and Fighter: Origin.’
The Chinese tech giant revealed that ‘Dungeon and Fighter: Origin,’ the mobile version of the well-received ‘Dungeon and Fighter’ computer game, will be launched on May 21 after seven years of development. Consequently, Tencent shares surged by over 5% in Hong Kong.
Nexon, a Korean company, developed the action game adaptation. This move is part of Tencent’s strategy to secure a new blockbuster title amidst regulatory restrictions that have impacted gaming durations and slowed the industry’s growth.
Although the success of DnF Mobile is not guaranteed, given the competition from popular titles by ByteDance Ltd. and Mihoyo, the creator of Genshin Impact, investors remain optimistic about the game’s profitability due to its well-established franchise.
Analysts from Jefferies expressed their expectations for gaming revenue to improve in the second quarter of 2024. They predicted that the game could generate an annual revenue of 6 billion yuan ($828 million). They also highlighted Tencent’s other emerging franchises as potential drivers of future growth.
