Test version of 'Game of Thrones' smartphone game released

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China’s Tencent Holdings has released a test version of a third-party developed smartphone game in China based on US hit television show Games of Thrones.

The game, titled “Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming”, was developed by Chinese games maker Yoozoo, Tencent Games said in a statement on its official WeChat account late on Wednesday.

Tencent, Asia’s second biggest company by market value, signed a deal in 2014 to obtain the exclusive rights to stream “Game of Thrones” online in China.

The Emmy-winning medieval fantasy series is HBO’s biggest-ever hit with some 30 million viewers in the United States and has been played 960 million times so far on Tencent’s video platform.

The new game is a simulation that will let players take on identities such as the character Tyrion Lannister, visit spots like Castle Black, and experience some of the show’s most memorable events like the Red Wedding, Tencent said.

Users who have obtained invite codes could start playing the game on Thursday, it said.

“The game will inherit the realist style of the HBO show, and players will be able to control various classic characters from the original novel to battle in Westeros,” Tencent Games said in the statement.

Players need to “conquer King’s Landing, capture the Iron Throne, and be the biggest winner in the Game of Thrones.”

Tencent is reeling from increased scrutiny of online gaming that has limited the number of new online game releases. The firm has lost over 20 percent of its market value since March.

The launch comes just weeks after Chinese authorities gave their nod to two batches of new video games after a freeze on approvals for most of last year that had spooked players in the world’s largest gaming market.