Chinese games and technology provider Tencent Holdings will shut down its popular Texas Hold’Em poker video game, the Chinese tech giant advised users on Monday, citing the need to take a further step to comply with intensifying government.
Tencent said it would formally begin to shutter “Everyday Texas Hold’Em” from Monday and would shut down the game’s server from Sept 25. Tencent would compensate users in accordance with regulations of Ministry of Culture, the company confirmed.
The Shenzhen-based company, which draws much of its profit from gaming, is facing mounting challenges this year from stringent regulation and government censorship. It has had to pull one blockbuster game and seen others censured, according to the Rewuters news agency.
The company’s market value slumped by around $20 billion in one day last month over concerns that China would limit gaming after a crackdown on online games citing rising levels of myopia.
A Tencent spokesman said the plan to shutter the game was a “business adjustment.”
Tencent logged its first quarterly profit decline in nearly 13 years in August, citing issues about getting popular games approved.
Founded in 1998, the firm’s main business is video games but it also runs China’s dominant social network, WeChat, with more than 1 billion users.