Hidden in Pokémon Go clone, Tencent’s plan to bring blockchain to the masses?

After several failures of wanna-be Pokémon Go-likes in mainland China, Tencent’s new mobile game “Let’s Hunt Monsters” is a hit: it immediately climbed to the top of the free game chart in the Chinese Apple store after being released in mid April. A month later, it’s still at number six.

What Tencent didn’t promote—and few have noticed—is the company’s first experiment with blockchain gaming. Hidden inside its Pokémon Go clone is a clone of CryptoKitties, which encourages players to trade virtual cats on Tencent’s blockchain and endows the cats with actual market value using the game’s strong social media features.

This might ultimately test the boundaries of Chinese regulations, which adamantly prohibit crypto trading. Some also criticize the game for not being as “decentralized” as a blockchain game should be and question Tencent’s disruption of the market as an outsized player. But Tencent’s first move into a mainstream blockchain product deserves more attention.

What you get

Full access to all premium content and our full archives

Members'-only newsletters

Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events

Direct access to the TechNode newsroom