Game On: Tencent, NetEase reconsidering Japan investments

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: Among this week’s new releases is Take-Two’s (TTWO) “NBA 2K25,” which releases September 6 for PC, Nintendo Switch (NTDOY), PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, Xbox One (MSFT), and Xbox Series X/S. Also out this week is Sony’s platform game “Astro Bot,” which launches exclusively on PS5 on September 6. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Games’ (WBD) “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” will release September 3 for PS4, PC, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, while Microsoft’s strategy game “Age of Mythology: Retold” will launch on September 4 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

TENCENT/NETEASE: Tencent (TCEHY) and NetEase (NTES) are reconsidering or cutting back on many of their investments in Japanese game developers, Bloomberg’s Takashi Mochizuki (SQNXF) title “Visions of Mana,” and plans to shut the Shibuya outfit, the author said, citing people familiar with the matter. Tencent is also reconsidering its investments in Japan, having already backed off from at least several funding commitments for new projects, the author noted.

SQUARE/XBOX: Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Square Enix’s “Final Fantasy 14,” said he would like to “further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers” following the port of the role-playing game releasing on the Microsoft console, Eurogamer’s Ed Nightingale reported. Yoshida told Eurogamer at Gamescom that players had been “waiting a long time” for the Xbox port, and that it’s had a “really strong response” with communities growing on the platform. The Fly notes that “Final Fantasy 14,” which first launched in 2013, had only been available on PC and PlayStation consoles until March of this year.

TAKE-TWO/REDBURN: Last week, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Take-Two Interactive with a Buy rating and $194 price target. The company is approximately a year away from releasing “Grand Theft Auto VI,” the next iteration in what is by far the world’s most successful crime video game franchise, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees a tripling of Take-Two’s operating income over the next couple of years and upside to consensus non-GAAP earnings estimates. It believes the game “will be transformational” to Take-Two’s financials.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Take-Two as measured by TipRanks.

MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:

• Warner Bros. Discovery’s Rocksteady has been hit with layoffs following the underperformance of “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” Eurogamer says
• Ubisoft’s (UBSFY) “Star Wars Outlaws” had a weak U.K. retail launch, PCGames reports
• Staff at “Call of Duty” support studio Raven Software filed an NLRB complaint over claims that Activision and Microsoft are stalling contract talks, VGC says
• Capcom (CCOEY) said that “Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection” and “Capcom Fighting Collection 2” will arrive on Xbox One in 2025