Short-video sharing platform TikTok is reportedly testing a video game service on its app in Vietnam, according to a news agency report. Reuters published on May 19. The social network, already a master in capturing attention, wants to go even further to consolidate its place as the most used application in the world.
TikTok wants to venture into mobile games
According to the sources of Reuters, the choice of Vietnam for this experiment owes nothing to chance. This country is one of the most attractive markets for large technology companies thanks to its population made up of 70% of people under the age of 35.
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Including a gaming service on its platform can pay big dividends for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. The company’s advertising revenue depends on the time spent by its users on the social network. Offering this type of service would considerably increase its retention rate and therefore increase its turnover.
Informants reported that the Chinese tech giant plans to launch the service in Southeast Asia. Two of them specified that it could be done by the third quarter of 2022. The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, has been offering games since 2019.
What types of games for the social network?
A TikTok representative said the company has been testing HTML5-like games in partnership with third-party game studios and developers such as Zynga. HTML5 games are a genre of games that do not require a lot of resources and are still easily playable on smartphones. ” We are always looking for ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that add value to our community. “, he confided to Reuters.
According to two people in the know, the games for the platform would come from the suite of games developed by ByteDance. Some of them have already been released in the US on the app like Disco Loco 3D from Zynga, Garden of Good and a dance game whose name is unknown.
One of them adds that advertising could well be present within the service from the beginning by separating the income between ByteDance and the game developers. The social network intends to stay one step ahead of its competitors and remain the most downloaded application in the world.