China’s Tencent reports its first-ever revenue drop as regulations and COVID-19 bite

HONG KONG: China’s Tencent Holdings reported on Wednesday its first ever quarterly sales fall, hurt by a lack of game approvals and regulations that limit playing time, as well as COVID-19 lockdowns and a weak economy that squeezed ad sales.

The contraction marks a nadir for the gaming giant and owner of the WeChat messaging platform which has reported double digit growth almost every quarter since it went public in 2004, as Beijing’s crackdown on big tech companies that began in late 2020 puts the brakes on its expansion.