Physix Frontier · News Briefing Card (TMTPost · Oct 8, 2026)

Game Giants Pour $87.2B Into AI, Entertainment Under 1%

KEY FACTS

From 2025 through July 2026, 15 listed gaming companies took part in 72 investment and financing deals totaling over 87.2 billion yuan.
Only 7 of those deals, worth about 200 million yuan, involved entertainment-related projects; more than 90% of the capital went to AI and robotics.
In DeepSeek's first external funding round in June 2026, Tencent contributed about 10 billion yuan and NetEase about 3 billion yuan.
Perfect World lost 118 million yuan in the first half of 2026, yet still planned to commit 500 million yuan to a tech-focused venture capital fund.
In the first half of 2026, the top 50 gaming companies by revenue recorded 108 AI investment events, surpassing the 89 for all of 2025.

KEY DATA

872亿元Total investment by listed gaming companies

约2亿元Investment in entertainment projects

约100亿元Tencent's investment in DeepSeek

约30亿元NetEase's investment in DeepSeek

PHYSIX OBSERVATION

With growth in their core gaming business slowing and user-acquisition costs rising, the major studios are converting cash into AI equity - part financial investment, part locking in technology partnerships. But with more than 90% of the money leaving entertainment, it is clear gaming companies are shifting from content providers to technology capital players. For AI startups, this money can fill funding gaps, but it may also give the gaming giants a bigger say in technology roadmaps.

Source: TMTPost report