China-US political tensions, and Pokémon TCG Pocket surpasses $400m | Week in Views

The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of.

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over, here’s our weekly digest where members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming over the past week.

Tencent shares fall as US designates publisher a Chinese military company

Political tensions between the US and China are running high. Given history, it’s not clear a new Trump-led administration would do much to to simmer them down.

This week, the US Department of Defense labelled Chinese publishing giant Tencent, which of course spans many businesses outside of games too, as a “Chinese military company”.

It’s one of 134 firms to be given the label, though there is some chance it could eventually be removed from the list. Tencent said the decision was “clearly a mistake”, claiming: “We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business.”

It’s potentially significant news for the games industry given how influential Tencent is across the globe. It has a stake in Fortnite maker Epic Games; in fact recently Tencent directors were forced to resign from Epic’s board over antitrust concerns. The company also owns League of Legends studio Riot Games and has invested heavily in Episode creator Pocket Gems, amongst others.

For wider context: right now TikTok is arguing to the Supreme Court that a ban of the app should be delayed beyond January 19th, the current deadline before it’s forced to sell or halt operations in the US. 

The last-minute gamble comes amid President-elect Trump pressuring the judges to delay the decision as he may try to give TikTok a reprieve. That’s despite setting these events in motion years ago himself and bipartisan(!) legislation citing security concerns that brought us to this point. Politics is wild.

Also, just last week the US claimed the Treasury Department was attacked by Chinese state-sponsored hackers in a “major incident”, according to the BBC.

Ultimately these events could spark more tit-for-tat responses. It’s worth noting that aorund the world, there are examples of political tensions resulting in unexpected consequences impacting the apps and games industries.

A few years ago India banned a number of China-linked apps in the country, including TikTok. China itself previously quietly banned new mobile games from South Korean publishers as part of its response to a THAAD missile defence system in the country, built in partnership with the US.

The story of US-China relations is one to watch this year.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket smashes $400 million in 10 weeks

What better way to start the year than with yet another milestone smashed?

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has earned its place as my first Week in Views of 2025 after rocketing past $400 million in gross lifetime revenue on January 6th, within just 10 weeks of its global launch last October.

After making its first $100 million in just 17 days and reaching $200 million in 31, TCG Pocket’s first month made it look like the momentum would never end.

And while player spending did slow down slightly in month two, down from a $6.5 million daily average to only $5.5 million, this period also saw the title achieve its highest-earning day yet.

On December 21st, the hit card game made a staggering $8.7 million. I, for one, would be quite content with $8.7 million in a single day. I would also be happy enough with $2.7 million — which is the worst TCG Pocket’s done so far!

And while I suspect those daily earnings will slip lower in the wait for the next expansion pack, I also have every confidence I’ll be talking about this game again before long, when the next pack inevitably thunderbolts the game to half a billion dollars and beyond.