Tencent is joining other Chinese internet companies by offering free or discounted services to those stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. The company is making 55 games free to play for two hours each through its PC game store WeGame.
The list of eligible games is made up of mostly Chinese games like My Time at Portia and Chinese Parents. But some Western games, including Subnautica and Hitman Go, are also included. WeGame is considered Tencent’s answer to Valve’s popular Steam store and has an estimated 70 million monthly active users.
Gamers all over China have been turning to gaming recently to relieve the boredom of staying indoors while the country contends with the deadly coronavirus outbreak. On February 9, more than 19 million people logged into Steam at the same time, which is half a million more than its peak in 2018. Tencent’s mobile games are also more popular, with the smash-hit MOBA game Honor of Kings reaching more than 100 million daily active users during the Lunar New Year holiday.