Apps and games from Chinese developers have come under a lot of scrutiny lately across the globe. Various governments have resorted to banning Chinese apps to curb the alleged sharing of data by Chinese brands with the CCP. After the Indian government banned a wide range of apps, Donald Trump passed an order declaring ByteDance and Tencent a national security threat.
The move has plagued gamers around the world, as it has raised speculation that Tencent's subsidiaries, which include Epic Games and Riot Games, will also face similar treatment. Epic Games and Riot Games are the names behind some of the most popular games in the world today, including League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant. However, it seems that video games will not be affected by this decision, as of now.
Video game companies owned by Tencent will NOT be affected by this decree!
A White House official confirmed to the LA Times that the OE only blocks transactions related to WeChat
So Riot Games (League of Legends), Epic Games (Fortnite), et al are safe
(updates pending)
— Sam Dean 🦅 (@SamAugustDean) August 7, 2020
According to a tweet from Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Dean, White House officials have confirmed that this decision only affects WeChat and not other Tencent subsidiaries, or Tencent-owned games. This means games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Fortnite will not be affected by this move.
Considering that many countries impose strict policies to regulate data sharing, video game companies may soon need to update their privacy policies accordingly to align with changing laws. A similar move was seen in India when the PUBG Mobile privacy policy was updated by Tencent shortly after the government started banning Chinese apps.
