Sea bought Canada-based game developer Phoenix Labs

The undisclosed deal is another example of Sea moving out of the shadow of long-time investor Tencent. I used to consider the firm a Tencent proxy, but there's plenty of arguments to challenge that assumption. Its Fornite-like Free Fire game has grossed over $1B in sales and Shopee continues to fight head-to-head with Lazada. If Sea can win a banking license in Singapore--where, by the way, it is one of only two solo bidders alongside Alibaba’s Ant Financial--it could really turn into a Southeast Asia monster.