As per a report from Reuters, TikTok is reportedly planning a major push into gaming and has already begun mini-game testing on its platform in Vietnam. Regarding the mini-games testing, a company’s representative said in an e-mailed statement; “We’re always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community.”
Mini-game testing to improve revenue
The sources from the company told that the mini-game testing plan will run ad-supported games generated from the library of its parent company, ByteDance, which is expected to boost the revenue and increase the amount of time people spend on the app. TikTok teamed up with Zynga last year to launch the HTML5 game, Disco Loco 3D, exclusively on TikTok.
TikTok has also planned a LIVE mobile gaming feature that would allow creators to better engage fans while live streaming. According to an investigation report by an Israeli mobile product intelligence firm Watchful, “TikTok is working to add minigames to LIVE videos in its app to enhance the live streaming experience between creators and their fans.” Although TikTok hasn’t confirmed the development but the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, has been running games on the app since 2019. Sources close to the matter said that TikTok is going to roll out more games within Southeast Asia.
ByteDance acquires gaming studio Moonton
ByteDance has acquired major mobile gaming studio Moonton hence putting it in direct competition with the Chinese gaming giant, Tencent. Moonton is famous for “Mobile Legends” a multiplayer online battle game (MOBA) where teams fight each other in large virtual arenas. A gaming analyst firm Niko Partners, wrote; “The biggest challenge for Bytedance will be to create a self-developed hit that it can operate over the long term. Hence why it is signing publishing deals to publish games based on popular IP and acquiring game development firms with a proven record of success.”
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