Chinese conquest

The Chinese are coming and they're hungry for games companies. They need new content to feed their 560 million avid gamers, who contribute to the biggest gaming market in the world - worth an estimated $24.4bn (£19.8bn) in 2016, according to Newzoo. Chinese firms have already spent more than $111bn on foreign acquisitions this year, according to Dealogic, with some of the biggest deals involving gaming companies. Internet giant Tencent - which owns the WeChat and QQ Games platforms - bought Finnish Clash of Clans mobile games maker Supercell for $8.6bn earlier this year. Tencent already owns League of Legends maker Riot Games, and has minority stakes in Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, the World of Warcraft maker.