According to a
Financial Times report published on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, the U.S. Trump administration is currently debating whether to maintain or curb the massive investments of Chinese giant Tencent in several pillars of the video game industry, including
Riot Games and Epic Games. According to the American outlet, opening this debate just three weeks before a scheduled meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next April positions the Tencent case as “
a broader signal,” allowing Washington to calibrate pressure ahead of the talks.
Tencent is unquestionably a global leader in the video game sector and holds major stakes in U.S.-based companies, including nearly 28% of Epic Games (
Fortnite, Unreal Engine) and, notably, 100% of Riot Games (
League of Legends, VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics). The Chinese group also owns 81.4% of Supercell, the Finnish mobile gaming giant (
Clash Royale, Clash of Clans), 35% of the French developer and publisher Ubisoft (
Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six Siege), 16.25% of Japanese company FromSoftware (
Dark Souls, Elden Ring), and 13.87% of South Korean group Krafton (
PUBG: Battlegrounds).
A dilemma between data protection and diplomacy
These investments are reportedly subject to an extended review by CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., according to the Financial Times. The panel, chaired by the U.S. Treasury, is seeking to determine whether Tencent’s presence poses a national security risk, particularly through potential access to the personal data of millions of users.
The internal debate in Washington reflects two competing visions. On one side, some officials are advocating for a forced divestment, arguing that chat logs and financial data collected through these games could potentially be exploited for intelligence purposes. This was the prevailing approach in the
TikTok case, where the administration compelled a partial sale of its U.S. subsidiary, with 80.1% transferred to a consortium of American companies and venture capital firms, including Oracle, which now stores U.S. user data on its own servers. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, retained a 19.9% stake in the TikTok USDS entity.
Chris McGuire, a former technology official under the Biden administration, told the Financial Times that “these platforms could serve as a significant source of intelligence collection.” On the other hand, the Treasury Department has historically favored mitigation measures, allowing Tencent to retain its stakes in exchange for strict data protection guarantees.
Uncertainty remains as the political climate intensifies. Last month, the Pentagon added Tencent to a list of companies allegedly linked to the Chinese military, an accusation the group firmly denies. At the same time, mixed signals have emerged, as the administration recently withdrew, just minutes after publication, a blacklist that also included Alibaba and BYD.
