Tencent is bringing Puzzle & Dragons to China: better late than never?

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Tencent will be bringing the popular Japanese mobile game Puzzle & Dragons to China next year, “according to a person familiar with the matter.” Does that mean a massive windfall of cash is imminent for the Chinese game publisher?

On the one hand, this move may be coming a little late. Puzzle & Dragons was white hot in 2013, but since then its growth has slowed. In fact, it was just dethroned as Japan’s top mobile game and its top-grossing mobile game by a newer game called Monster Strike, published by Mixi. By the time Puzzle & Dragons launches in China in 2015, the game’s popularity may well have sunk even lower.

And because Puzzle & Dragons was popular abroad but unavailable in China for so long, plenty of copycat games sprung up to fill the void. Chinese gamers interested in Puzzle & Dragons may not have been able to play the real thing yet, but they’ve had plenty of time to experience – and maybe even get tired of – the game’s signature gameplay via any of the many copycat titles that mimic it.

On the other hand, it’s certainly possible. Puzzle & Dragons was one of the most popular and profitable mobile games in the history of Japan, and it did quite well in the United States too. Tencent has a history of successfully importing popular foreign games – even older ones. In fact, China’s top 3 PC games are all foreign imports published in China by Tencent, and all of them are more than five years old. Tencent is a company that has proved itself good at spotting overseas success and duplicating that success in the Chinese gaming market. Even at times when it seems like it has arrived at the party a little late.

So, Puzzle & Dragons‘ move to the Middle Kingdom may not be quite as sure a thing as some pundits are suggesting. That doesn’t mean I’d bet against it, though. 2015 may be a little late for Puzzle & Dragons to finally reach China’s shores, but this time I suspect it will be a case of better late than never.

See: Monster Strike is Japan’s new number one app, dethrones Puzzle & Dragons