Chinese software and technology company Tencent has announced its Metaverse Suite of services designed to target Asian markets. The company revealed that it is revamping its media offering with a new “metaverse-in-a-box” offering aimed at making the task of building virtual worlds easier for third-party companies.
Tencent Focuses on Offering Metaverse Tools to Third Parties
Chinese tech giant Tencent has revealed its hand on its future Metaverse strategy. The company announced that it will focus on offering “metaverse-in-a-box” services to its customers through its cloud division. The move complements the media service offering the company launched last year, which aims to facilitate the task of developing virtual worlds for Tencent’s customers.
The tools announced by Tencent will reportedly be used by gaming, media, entertainment, and retail companies to build and design these metaverse spaces for a variety of purposes. Tencent aims to serve customers in Asian markets, especially Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, which, according to the company’s projections, are experiencing significant growth in this area.
Poshu Yeung, senior vice president of Tencent Cloud International, said,:
As more and more companies seek to explore and adapt to an efficient and transparent digital future, we will leverage our technical experience in gaming, audio and video to provide technical support for Web3 and work with industry partners to create more immersive experiences and ready to foster a better Web3 ecosystem.
Pivot to Software
Tencent’s new plan points to a pivot away from pursuing a metaverse hardware business to a focus on software development, the company’s forte. The company reportedly announced the creation of an augmented reality unit in June 2022 to develop native hardware for experiencing virtual worlds, but recent reports point toward the cancellation of these initiatives and the dissolution of this group.
Tencent denied reports that it was disbanding this division, but stated that it was adjusting its staff to accommodate the change in plans. Other Chinese companies are also cutting divisions and groups related to the Metaverse, such as Bytedance, which produces the Pico series of virtual reality (VR) headsets.
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