Riot Games Owner Tencent Reports Gains In Q4 Sales, Profits

Chinese internet and mobile company Tencent, which recently acquired League of Legends developer Riot Games, on Wednesday reported a rise in sales and profits for the quarter ended December 31, thanks in part to strong performance of online and mobile games. The Hong Kong-based company said the web MMO Qi Xiong Zheng Ba, released in August last year, helped drive Q4 revenues in the firm's internet division, along with "increased monetization" of the free-to-play military shooter Cross Fire. The popular online game Dungeon and Fighter saw revenue growth during the quarter, along with Tencent's QQ Game -- casual games that are tied into the company's popular instant messaging service. QQ Game had 6.8 million user accounts by the end of the quarter, the firm said. Quarterly revenues in the internet division were 4.4 billion yuan ($662.0 million), up 54 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Revenue growth in the company's mobile division was driven by mobile social games, Tencent said. Total mobile division sales during the quarter were 728.5 million yuan ($110.0 million), up 33 percent year-on-year. Total quarterly revenues across all of Tencent's businesses reached 5.5 billion yuan ($834.1 million), up 50 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Profits were up 44 percent to 2.2 billion yuan ($334.2 million) for the period. Total 2010 revenue for the company hit 19.6 billion yuan ($3 billion), up 58 percent over 2009, and profits were up 55 percent to 8.1 billion yuan ($1.2 billion). Riot Games announced its acquisition by Tencent just last month, so revenues from the L.A.-based studio were not included during the December quarter. Tencent said in its earnings release, "This transaction allows us to gain exposure to the global online gaming market, as well as leverage the expertise and resources of a top-class game developer."