Tencent opens Playa Vista office with plans to expand LA workforce

Chinese tech giant Tencent opens its Playa Vista office this week.

The world’s largest video game publisher is consolidating its Los Angeles footprint into a 53,000-square-foot office space in the neighborhood intended to house 300 employees — doubling its existing workforce in the area — the L.A. Times reported Thursday.

Tencent’s new space is part of Rockwood Capital’s Playa Jefferson, a five-building complex at 12777 W. Jefferson Boulevard.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Tencent America, the firm’s U.S. division, originally leased the space at the end of 2019, according to Avison Young. The office includes a gym, café, production facilities and game rooms. Employees will move in pursuant to Covid-19 safety protocols, the Times reported.

Playa Vista is popular with tech and production companies and is part of the broader “Silicon Beach” area, which includes Santa Monica, Venice and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Google opened a 319,000-square-foot office in the former “Spruce Goose” aircraft hangar there in 2018.

Facebook leased a 260,000-square-foot space at Tishman Speyer’s Brickyard campus, less than a mile from Playa Jefferson, in 2019.

Tencent had previously leased office space at a handful of properties across the L.A. area.

The company currently has around 150 employees in L.A. and 400 employees in the U.S. altogether. It also has stakes in several U.S.-based companies, including video game giant Epic Games, Riot Games and Universal Music Group.

[LAT] — Dennis Lynch