Tencent to publish Game of Thrones game in China

Tencent is to publish a Game of Thrones mobile title in China, called Winter is Coming.

The game was announced last summer, with mobile developer Yoozoo (also sometimes referred to as Youzu) entering a partnership with Warner Bros to work on the title. Now Tencent has secured the publishing deal in the country, though the release date was not revealed. It is worth reminding that Game of Thrones’ network, HBO, belongs to Warner Bros’ parent company as well, Warner Media.

Reporting on the announcement, Abascus News highlighted the huge popularity of Game of Thrones in China. However, HBO’s hit series is also heavily censored in the country, with the publication mentioning “the show’s first episode [being] about 11 minutes shorter than the original” as a result. Earlier this week, Variety also reported that HBO’s website was blocked in China following an episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight where he was mocking Chinese president Xi Jinping. So needless to say that Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming is likely to differ quite greatly from its original material.

Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming will be a war strategy game, with the House of Westeros being the main characters, Chinese publication People’s Daily reported last year, adding that it was the first time HBO authorised a Chinese company to work on the popular series’ license.