In a pair of executive orders signed by the Trump the US government will enforce bans on both TikTok parent ByteDance and transactions in the popular Tencent owned WeChat app next month.
45 days is all the companies have left on their timeline to continue operating and within US territories at which time they’ll need to cease operations.
Initial fears under the WeChat order were that parent Tencent would be facing a total ban, meaning US based Epic Games and Riot would find themselves in hot water. This doesn’t appear to be the case however with clarification citing only WeChat transactions were being targeted amidst the continuous contention the Trump government has with China.
Video game companies owned by Tencent will NOT be affected by this executive order!
White House official confirmed to the LA Times that the EO only blocks transactions related to WeChat
So Riot Games (League of Legends), Epic Games (Fortnite), et al are safe
(pending updates)
— Sam Dean ? (@SamAugustDean) August 7, 2020
Regardless, sanctions on WeChat could have serious repercussions for Apple, whom if unable to allow the app on their phones could see their entire market disappear overnight.
TikTok on the other hand continues with discussions over finding a US based owner. Over the weekend, Twitter has now taken up the potential buyer position as Microsoft continues discussions scheduled to complete by September 15th.