Chinese Internet Titan Tencent Falters After Chinese Gov. Bans Game

The shares for Chinese Internet gaming giant Tencent dropped by 3.6 percent in Hong Kong, Tuesday, after the Chinese government forced them to remove a hit game from their PC store for failing to comply with regulatory standards.

According to Bloomberg, Tencent Holdings Ltd. was told to “remove Monster Hunter: World from its PC downloads service just days after the action title’s debut.”

“Parts of the Capcom Co. hit failed to meet regulatory standards and the relevant authorities received a ‘significant amount of complaints,’ which in turn spurred the government to revoke an operating license,” Bloomberg explained, adding that it was just the latest problem of many the company has faced with government regulations in China.

Capcom, a Japanese company, also saw its shares fall by 10 percent, before rising by 2.1 percent the day after.

Tencent’s empire extends well outside of China. The company owns Riot Games, producers of League of Legends, a popular game in America and around the world. Tencent is also attempting to spin off its music streaming business as a public company in the U.S.

Tencent is part of a group of companies that have dominated the Internet in China. This week, the South China Morning Post warned Google and Facebook that expanding into China could create more problems than benefits.

The article, which was titled, “Why Facebook and Google’s China Dream Will Cost More than It Pays,” warned that tech companies would be directly controlled by the Chinese government, and added that most American and European technology companies have already been replicated in China.