Tencent reportedly in talks for stake in ‘Block Blast’ gaming studio

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is in talks to acquire a small stake in Hungry Studio, the developer behind the casual game Block Blast!, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

The talks, ongoing for several months, could lead to an investment soon, but no final decision has been made.

Hungry Studio, founded in 2021, says on its website that Block Blast! had over 300 million monthly players and 70 million daily active users as of the end of 2025.

Shenzhen-based Tencent has previously invested in gaming companies such as Riot Games and the creators of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dark Souls.

Representatives for both companies did not respond to requests for comment.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Tencent may back the testing engine behind Block Blast!

Hungry Studio says Block Blast! climbed from 40 million daily active users in late 2024 to 70 million by the end of 2025 1.
Sensor Tower data cited by Mobilegamer.biz puts Block Blast! at 284 million downloads in 2025, second only to Roblox 1.
Hungry Studio ran more than 10,000 A/B tests in 2025, which compares two versions to see what performs better, and it has used this method across progression too 2.
That testing setup supports an ad-only monetization model, meaning revenue comes from advertising rather than in-app purchases, for Block Blast! 3.

Deal talk hints at a different Tencent approach to mobile games

The possible investment matters in a market where Tencent already owns Miniclip, a mobile game publisher 4.
Hungry Studio is pressing into Miniclip’s Numbers genre, which covers number-based puzzle games, with Sudoku Master! 5.
Across the industry, ad monetization that leans on constant testing is becoming as important as in-app purchases for revenue 6.
A minority stake would match Tencent’s long-running habit of taking stakes in game companies, and it could bring exposure to Hungry Studio’s ad optimization and experimentation approach 4.