Tencent Games has committed 1 billion RMB, roughly $140 million USD, over the next three years to develop Golden Spatula, its auto-battler game, and the esports ecosystem around it.
The announcement was made by Huang Lingdong, Vice President of Tencent Games and head of the game’s China operations, at a strategy presentation held at the Royal Banquet Palace in Xi’an, China. The event was themed “Heading Toward a New Game in 2027: Esports Upgrade & PC Launch.”
According to Tencent, the money will be spread across four areas: the game itself, its content, its community, and its esports competitions. The most concrete change is to prize money. The total yearly prize pool across all Golden Spatula tournaments in 2027 will be double that of 2026. Funding will also go to video creators, streamers, and local tournament organisers, with the aim of making it easier for ordinary players to take part in competitive play. Millions of RMB in additional incentives are set aside for community-run events and university groups.
The centrepiece of the new competitive structure is a new annual championship, which will be held during the game’s anniversary celebration. It will carry a 10 million RMB prize pool, about $1.4 million, with 3 million RMB, or about $420,000, going to the champion.
Apart from the esports ecosystem development, Tencent is also putting a big focus on university students. It has launched a new college esports brand called “Prism Academy,” built specifically for young student players. Under this programme, Tencent will provide easy-to-use tools for running tournaments, along with millions of RMB in incentives.
The number of in-person campus tournaments will grow from 100 to 300. Tencent said that the end goal is to bring competitions directly onto campuses, so students who enjoy Golden Spatula can set up and play in their own competitive scene.
Finally, Tencent shared several figures on the game’s reach. It has more than 240 million registered users over five years and more than 50 million monthly active players. Tournaments drew over 10 million participant entries per year across 2025 and 2026. Content related to the game has received more than 270 billion views on Chinese social and video platforms, peaking at over 10 million views per hour in September 2026.
The event ended with Tencent executives and production staff lighting a ceremonial torch called the “Win-Streak Spatula,” which formally opened the 2027 esports season.
Tencent’s Golden Spatula plans come after a busy few months for the company in esports. In early September, it was reported to be in talks with the French government to host CrossFire esports tournaments, and later that month, Tencent Esports was named to power the technical infrastructure for the Asian Games in Japan.
