Tencent fires 100 employees, blacklists 37 firms on corruption charges

Tencent Holdings has dealt a strong blow to fraudsters by banning 37 companies and firing 100 of its employees over serious cases of corruption on different levels

In a move towards ensuring more transparency and fair practices, Tencent Holdings Ltd has blacklisted 37 companies from carrying out future contracts. Adding to this, the company said that it has fired more than 100 staff over embezzlement and bribery incidents.

Tencent is China’s largest social media and video games company. This announcement came via a social media post from the developer. It had reported 40 employees to authorities since it started an anti-graft campaign in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Tencent takes strict action

The company mentioned that in one case, an employee in its game publishing division sought benefits for outside parties. They also obtained kickbacks from them, Tencent said in the post in which they named and accused the concerned individual.

Chinese tech companies have doubled down on corruption investigations in recent years. This is because their valuations and profiles have soared following a tech boom in the country. China’s tech companies have been providing regular updates on their anti-corruption measures.

Tencent is widely known as the promoter of the global fan-favourite PUBG. It said that it would continue to follow a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards unethical behaviour.

The precursor

The arrest of a senior Alibaba Group Holding Ltd executive in 2018 indicated that a years-long anti-graft drive spearheaded by President Xi Jinping would not spare the country’s web titans.

Yang Weidong, the president of Alibaba’s video streaming service Youkou, stepped down before he was given a seven-year jail sentence.

Tencent joins Activision & Valve

Gamers would recall that recently developer Activision also banned 3,00,000 Call of Duty player accounts owing to fraudulent activities and in-game cheating.

On similar grounds, Valve had banned 37 CS:GO pro coaches last month on grounds of issuing a spectator bug, after confirming reports from the ESIC.

These corrective measures taken on a grand scale indicate a global trend towards manipulating in-game dynamics. At the same time, compromising the financial skeleton of a gaming activity.

Not without reason, will such large-scale game developers and now a large game owner, perpetrate such measures. These surely have a long-term prospects and impact and companies must take cognizance.