, Columnist
China's New Weapon? Video Games.
Why orcs, anime and projectile donkeys are the new "soft power."
Soft power.
Photographer: Vesa Moilanen/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
When Chinese internet giant Tencent acquired the Finnish video game developer Supercell last month for $8.6 billion, it became the world's dominant publisher and distributor in the $100 billion gaming market. It was a blockbuster deal: No other Chinese entertainment company in any field -- television, film, books -- has ever come close to such a dominating position.
Yet the most lasting consequence of the acquisition might not have much to do with economics. It might instead be cultural.