BWild |
November 11, 2015
Tencent is finding success in offering inexpensive content
Tencent is one of China’s largest Internet and commerce businesses, but it does have strong competition from others that have established a foothold in both of these sectors. In order for Tencent to beat out the competition, the company is beginning to focus on providing consumers with inexpensive entertainment, ranging from mobile games to free video streaming services. Tencent expects to see significant growth in the coming year, despite the slowing economy in China.
Mobile games and free HBO streaming are likely to generate strong interest among consumers
Tencent is responsible for the massively popular WeChat and QQ messaging applications. Both of these apps will soon support new mobile games that are coming to the country. They will also offer free streaming of HBO’s successful “Game of Thrones” series. Mobile games, in particular, are likely to drive significant growth, as many consumers in China prefer to play these types of games because they represent a very convenient form of entertainment.
China’s economy is growing slowly
By coupling mobile games with free video streaming through WeChat and QQ, Tencent expects that it will see a 28% surge in sales. This is four times faster than the rate of domestic economic growth in China. The country’s economy is currently growing at the slowest rate it has seen in 25 years. Several companies have managed to find success despite the slowing economy through a focus on the mobile sector. These companies are supporting mobile commerce, as well as various forms of mobile media.
Mobile games continue to find success in China
Mobile games are likely to become a primary focus for Tencent, but not the company’s sole focus, of course. Tencent has a long history of supporting mobile gaming and by expanding the capabilities of its WeChat and QQ apps, it will likely connect better with gamers in China. Many new games are coming to China, with developers seeing significant promise in the country. This has made China one of the fastest growing markets for mobile games in the world.
Mobile games are coming to WeChat
Tencent, China’s largest Internet company, has been making aggressive moves in the mobile field recently. The company has been looking to boost the revenue generated from WeChat, China’s most popular social messaging application. WeChat is used by over half of the smartphone and tablet owners in China and the application is making its way to other markets beyond the country’s borders. Tencent believes that it can boost the revenue of WeChat by making various updates to the application and adding new features, such as mobile games.
WeChat brings social elements to mobile games
The company has noticed that mobile games are quite addictive to consumers throughout China. Tencent believes that this creates an ideal environment for consumers to compete with one another on mobile games through the WeChat application, adding a social element to these games. Users of WeChat will not be charged to play the mobile games associated with the application. There are various features that are included in these games that do come at a price, however. These in-game purchases can unlock additional content for those interested in spending money on the games they are interested in.
Consumers may make in-game purchases due to competition with friends
Tencent expects that competition will be the main reason consumers spend money on mobile games. WeChat is a social platform, allowing more than 300 million users throughout China to connect with one another in real-time. Tencent believes that the allure of “one-upping” friends could be a driving force behind in-game purchases. Those that do purchase additional content or advantages in mobile games establish a slight lead over their friends and this may encourage others to follow suit so as not to be left behind.
Consumers are notoriously fickle when it comes to mobile games
While mobile games have proven to be a lucrative sector for the game industry as a whole, consumers are notoriously fickle when it comes to this type of gaming. Few mobile games have the ability to hold a consumer’s attention for prolonged periods of time. While games like “Candy Crush Saga” manage to generate a great deal of revenue, consumers tend to move quickly from game to game in order to find a better experience. WeChat may need to support a wide variety of mobile games if it wants to generate revenue in this way.
