NetEase vs TenPay Global

Mattel Game Studios Targets Mobile Hit Like Monopoly Go

Mattel is restructuring its gaming division, now known as Mattel Game Studios, to pursue a blockbuster mobile title similar to Hasbro and Scopely's Monopoly Go. After acquiring NetEase's stake in the joint venture Mattel163 in February 2026 and rebranding in August, Mattel aims to leverage its iconic IPs like Uno, Barbie, and Hot Wheels for mobile and other gaming platforms. Devin Nambiar, COO, oversees a team of about 300 spread across LA and Hangzhou. The company plans to launch games tied to major movie and toy releases, with ambitions to replicate the success of Monopoly Go, which generated significant revenue for Hasbro. Mattel views this as a long-term digital transformation initiative spanning five to ten years.

• Mattel acquired NetEase's stake in the joint venture Mattel163 in February 2026.
• Mattel163 rebranded as Mattel Game Studios in August 2026.
• Devin Nambiar, former EA executive, serves as COO of Mattel Game Studios, overseeing ~300 employees in LA and Hangzhou.

ARM unveils AI-native mobile platform for agentic AI and graphics

Semiconductor company ARM has unveiled CSS for Mobile 2, a new compute platform designed to support agentic AI and AI-native graphics on mobile devices. The platform combines the new ARM Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU with the ARM C2 CPU cluster featuring SME2, enhanced system IP, physical implementations, and a software ecosystem. The Mali G2-Ultra NX is ARM's first Mali GPU with dedicated neural accelerators, combining neural and traditional graphics processing in the same pipeline. It introduces a new execution engine and Ray Tracing Unit for complex mobile graphics workloads. ARM claims the GPU delivers up to 4x higher performance per watt for neural graphics and up to 14% higher performance on existing game content compared with the previous generation. ARM is also providing software support through ARM KleidiAI, the ARM Neural Graphics Development Kit, and its new AI Portal. NetEase's game 'Where Winds Meet' plans to integrate ARM's Neural Technology this year.

• ARM unveiled CSS for Mobile 2, a compute platform for agentic AI and AI-native graphics.
• The platform includes the ARM Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU, ARM's first Mali GPU with dedicated neural accelerators.
• The Mali G2-Ultra NX delivers up to 4x higher neural graphics performance per watt.

Duolingo Partners with NetEase's Eggy Party in China

Language learning app Duolingo has partnered with NetEase's mobile party game Eggy Party in China. The collaboration marks Duolingo's first game-related partnership in the country, letting learners unlock exclusive in-game rewards by maintaining a three-day Duolingo streak. The Eggy Party Quest went live on August 26, and an Eggy Island crossover event is scheduled for September 4. Duolingo previously ran a similar streak-reward crossover with HoYoverse's Genshin Impact, but this campaign is the first focused specifically on players in China. Scarlett Yue Yuan, Duolingo's head of business development and partnerships in China, said the partnership brings the two IPs together naturally, with learning powering play and play rewarding learning, and targets Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities. At Pocket Gamer Connects London, Simon Hade reported about 50 million daily active Duolingo users, with around 20% maintaining streaks of one year or longer.

• Duolingo partnered with NetEase's Eggy Party in China, its first game-related partnership in the country.
• The Eggy Party Quest launched on August 26, 2026, offering exclusive in-game rewards for three consecutive days of Duolingo streaks.
• An Eggy Island crossover is scheduled for September 4, 2026.

Researchers Track Chinese AI Agent Fleet Targeting Amap

On October 5, 2026, independent researchers reported an 'AI agent fleet'—not a coordinated swarm—running on Tencent infrastructure and querying Alibaba's map service Amap. The agents were detected via URLquery, a domain-scanning service, which revealed queries to Amap for directions to public places like parks, zoos, and hospitals. The agents appear to bypass Alibaba's API rules rather than engage in malicious activity. This discovery highlights increasing AI agent activity on the internet, continuing after the Hugging Face incident, and underscores the challenges for platforms managing automated traffic and potential policy enforcement.

• Independent researchers discovered an AI agent fleet running on Tencent's infrastructure.
• The agents targeted Alibaba's map service Amap, seeking directions to public places.
• The agents were detected using URLquery, a domain-scanning service.

Four Ways to Help International Visitors Feel at Home in China

New article added to Tencent's All News page: 'Four Ways to Help International Visitors Feel at Home in China' published September 28, 2026.

Data Roundup: Funding, Earnings, Market Trends in Gaming

This weekly data digest covers several key stories in the mobile gaming industry. Tencent led a $25M Series A for Circle Games. AppMagic estimates show top earners in August, led by Gossip Harbor and Roblox. Japan's mobile game IAP revenue fell 5.1% to $10B in 2026. A Newzoo-Google report reveals 46% of online consumers play webgames monthly. Duolingo's crossover with Brawl Stars boosted installs. Colony Flow, Mystery Dumpling, and Hunting Rivals show strong revenue numbers. Bandai Namco's Bleach game passed 400k pre-registrations. Topdog raised $2.5M for real-money skill games. Jest alt app store hit a $1M run rate.

• Circle Games raised a $25M Series A led by Tencent, with participation from e2vc, Bitkraft Ventures, APY Ventures, and a16z Speedrun.
• Japan's mobile games market generated over $10B (¥1.56T) in IAP revenue in 2026, down 5.1% year-on-year.
• Gossip Harbor led App Store revenue and Roblox topped Google Play revenue in August, per SocialPeta.