Video game stocks fell on Friday, even though they won’t be affected by Trump’s executive order targeting Tencent and ByteDance.
Shares of video game companies tanked on Friday after President Trump’s executive order—targeting not only TikTok-parent company ByteDance but also WeChat-parent company Tencent, which has stakes in a host of U. S. gaming companies—led to confusion over whether that could decimate the video game industry. Trump’s executive order will go into effect on September 20, although it could well face legal challenges. TikTok, for instance, has already warned that it could go to court and said it is “shocked” by the order. The Trump administration has ramped up its pressure on Chinese tech companies in recent weeks, calling Chinese-owned apps like TikTok and WeChat “threat[s]” to U. S. national security. TikTok in particular has been the target of U. S. lawmakers for months over allegations that the app’s owners could share U.
