ByteDance, known for its short video app TikTok, now has a team of more than 1,000 for its games operation as it pushes to work its way into the mobile gaming market.
The upcoming titles, which represent ByteDance’s debut in the non-casual games market segment, will target both domestic and overseas players, according to a Bloomberg report and the company’s goal is reportedly to have two games released this spring.
The games pipeline of ByteDance, owner of popular short video app TikTok overseas and Chinese equivalent Douyin, includes massively multiplayer online games with Chinese fantasy elements, according to the report. The Beijing-based company, which has built a team of more than 1,000 for its games operation, has acquired studios involved in that genre including Pangu Game Global and Shanghai Mokun Digital Technology.
ByteDance was valued at US$78 billion last year on the back of TikTok’s rapid international expansion. Tiktok recently teamed up with popular online game Fortnite for a promotional activity, showing the advances being made by ByteDance in the gaming world.
While ByteDance has been ratcheting up recruitment for its games business, its resources still pale in comparison with Tencent, which runs the world’s largest video games business by revenue and Chinese social media giant WeChat.
