Tencent

RMB609 billion revenue in 2024 (10% growth) and RMB192.9 billion in Q3 2025 (15% surge) understates Tencent's biological role: keystone species whose presence enables entire gaming ecosystem. With 1.414 billion WeChat monthly active users, Tencent doesn't just operate a platform—it engineers habitat. The 100% ownership of Riot Games (League of Legends, Valorant), 84.3% of Supercell (Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars), 40% of Epic Games (Fortnite, Unreal Engine), and strategic stakes in 200+ studios creates mycorrhizal networks: underground fungal connections transferring resources (capital, technology, distribution) between trees (game studios) that appear independent above ground.

International games revenue surging 43% year-over-year to RMB20.8 billion reveals mutualism at work: Tencent's investment doesn't extract value through control, but amplifies it through network access. Supercell's Clash Royale hitting all-time highs in September 2025 (monthly users and revenue) demonstrates portfolio effect—diversified investments where winners compensate for losers, and collective resilience exceeds sum of parts. Honor of Kings ($1.87B in 2024) and PUBG Mobile ($1.15B) show how Tencent cultivates both domestic dominance and global reach through different species in the same genus.

The investment strategy resembles fig wasps pollinating fig trees: obligate mutualism where both parties gain. Studios get capital, WeChat distribution (especially in China), and technology transfer. Tencent gets revenue share, strategic optionality, and ecosystem redundancy. When one title declines (natural succession), others mature—continuous flowering across the portfolio. Increasing Remedy stake to 14% (2024) and FromSoftware parent to 8% (2025) shows niche construction: cultivating relationships before they're critical.

WeChat's integration of mini-games, in-app ads, payments, and social features creates platform architecture: the base layer enabling speciation. At RMB139.7 billion domestic games revenue and growing AI investments (competing with ByteDance's Doubao), Tencent demonstrates ecosystem engineering—modifying the environment to favor your offspring. Regulatory scrutiny (China's SAMR, EU antitrust, U.S. national security) reflects keystone paradox: when one species becomes too critical, the system's stability depends on it—making intervention attractive. But removing keystones triggers trophic cascades. Tencent's 60+ acquisitions/investments since 2008 show how oaks support biodiversity: hundreds of species depend on acorns, and removing the oak collapses the community.