The full list of Level Infinite games will surprise you.
As the global publishing arm of Tencent, it crosses geographies, cultures, business models, and platforms. The company is everywhere, working behind-the-scenes with studios across the globe — but sometimes you won’t even see their name in the rolling credits.
A mobile gaming giant from China, the company has since expanded into the PC and console business with the same goal: deliver a high quality gaming experience to players “in a way that’s innovative and creative, but that also connects with local culture.”
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In this exclusive interview with ONE Esports, Martin Sibille, Head of Global PC and Console Publishing and Vice President of Tencent Games, peels back the curtain, offering us a view of the unseen efforts that bring your favorite games to life.
Level Infinite games extend far beyond what you see in list of official published titles
Level Infinite manages a large portfolio of game titles and while the first thing that usually comes to everyone’s mind is Honor of Kings, there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
“We do have, within Tencent, a lot of studios, and as a publisher, we’re also supporting them with services from technical support, to assets creation, localization, partner management, anything they need,” Martin told ONE Esports.
It’s precisely because of its large portfolio that there’s no “one size fits all approach” for the gaming giant. They make it a priority with every studio and project to understand the game, what the studio’s ambitions are, what the audience wants, and then decide what’s the best way they can support them for maximum global coverage.
This also means that while games are generally distributed globally, some are hyper localized to cater to the specific markets. Beyond language, it’s about selecting the best channels to communicate about the games, payment mechanisms, skins, and in-game events.
Naturally, this requires further investment along with deeper regional and local understanding, which is why there are multiple Level Infinite hubs and offices around the world “to make sure we are as close as possible to local players.”
“As a gamer, what you can see is, hopefully, a seamless experience that really resonates with your kind of culture where we make the game available the way you want to consume it,” Martin said.
Majority of their titles in the pipeline are live service games, he shared, while some are single-player experiences. These upcoming titles are produced by in-house studios and acquisitions that they’ve made over the last few years to grow their market share.
“We want to make sure we are a truly global publisher. In that sense, it’s fairly unique because most of the game companies are either very strong on PC or console, or very strong in Europe and US but not that strong in Asia, or not that strong on mobile or free-to-play and so on,” Martin elaborated.
Since the company is not limited by any specific genre or category, Level Infinite’s main objective is to diversify its portfolio to engage with all types of gamers from casual to competitive and everything in between.
For gamers in Southeast Asia, what this means is that you can expect more esports tournaments, primarily on mobile first. Following its successful PUBG Mobile esports scene, players can look towards Honor of Kings esports following the game’s international release on June 20, 2024.
For gamers in Thailand and Singapore, where the PC market is strong, you can also expect more from Level Infinite who wants to be identified with high quality games with an added focus on esports.
“Within this very fragmented world, I would like to see us as a safe place they can go to find that content,” Martin said. “The brand comes second, the game and experience come first. If we don’t have content, there’s nothing for the players to engage with, so that’s why content will always come first.”
READ MORE: How to practice in Honor of Kings effectively to conquer the Gorge in real matches
