What you need to know
- U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning some Chinese companies from doing business with American companies.
- The ban affects ByteDance, current owner of TikTok and Tencent's WeChat.
- White House has confirmed that Tencent's video gaming interests including Riot Games and Epic Games are not affected.
U.S. President, Donald Trump, once again hit the headlines yesterday ordering a ban on American companies conducting business transactions with ByteDance (TikTok) and WeChat, owned by Tencent.
The former is, of course, in talks with Microsoft over an acquisition deal, but the latter had a different kind of concern for gamers. With Trump going after Tencent, that potentially included a number of the most popular video games on the planet, including League of Legends, Valorant and Fortnite.
The White House has since clarified to the LA Times that video games, at least for now, are not affected.
"A White House official on Thursday night clarified that the executive order concerning WeChat only blocks transactions related to WeChat, not those involving other Tencent holdings."
So, for now at least, that's a blessing to players of all these games. Tencent has ownership of Riot Games, makers of League of Legends and Valorant, as well as a significant shareholding in Epic Games.
