Tencent considers this label to be "a mistake."
The US Department of Defense has included Tencent on a list of companies it considers to be part of the Chinese military. The word comes via Bloomberg, which made the discovery. The move by the DOD has drawn the concern of Tencent, which responded by saying that the inclusion on this list is "clearly a mistake" as the company alleges it "not a military company or supplier."
Here's a bit more from Tencent regarding the matter:
Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business. We will nonetheless work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding.
In 2020, President Trump had issued an executive order that prevents US companies from investing in Chinese firms with ties to that country's military. In the time since, companies that appear on the list are often perceived in a negative light, which seems to be at the root of Tencent's concerns following this designation.
Tencent is the largest video game company in the world, with ownership of studios like Riot Games, Inflexion Games, Sharkmob, and Funcom, as well as minority stakes in in FromSoftware, Epic Games, Remedy, Larian Studios, and Bloober Team, among others. Whether or not this move will cause negative repercussions for Tencent is unknown, but we'll report as the story unfolds.
Source: Bloomberg