Pony Ma, Tencent Holdings’ CEO, recently reportedly shared his concern about the difficult road ahead for their video gaming division, while also highlighting progress in artificial intelligence (AI) development. Pony Ma revealed at Tencent’s annual gathering in Shenzhen that our beloved video game section is facing stiff competition.
Tencent’s CEO raises concerns about gaming business
Chinese media got a sneak peek at Ma‘s speech online, and it appears that Ma is concerned about Tencent, the big cheese in gaming and the brains behind WeChat, maintaining its dominance amidst all this cutthroat competition and fancy new technology.
When asked for a comment, Tencent did not respond. However, Ma spilled the beans, admitting that, while gaming is their main source of income, they’ve been struggling. I guess the games they’ve been serving up lately haven’t been hitting the mark, just like Tower of Fantasy, which I’ve experienced firsthand that even after a constant number of changes and updates, the game still fails to attract the amount of crowd that it could if done correctly, and they’re currently in the process of rebooting Tower of Fantasy, which will be implemented soon, so I’m hoping that these changes will help Tencent get back on track.
This is where things get spicy. While Tencent’s classics such as Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile continue to be profitable, newer releases aren’t as successful. Meanwhile, competitors such as HoYoverse and NetEase are hogging the spotlight with titles like Genshin Impact and Eggy Party. However, all is not lost! Ma revealed that Tencent is finally picking up the pace in the AI race. They may not be leading the pack, but at least they are not trailing behind
According to Ma, Tencent has big plans for AI, including using it to boost efficiency across multiple businesses. However, don’t expect AI to take over the world right away. Ma believes it will be a year or two before we see any major AI magic, but I’m hoping that whenever it is released, it will greatly assist Tencent in regaining its foothold and potentially attracting new customers.
Oh, don’t forget about live-streaming e-commerce! Tencent has been eyeing ByteDance’s Douyin and hopes to turn WeChat into a live-streaming revenue generator. Ma is thinking about how to freshen up our old faithful WeChat, which turns 12 this year.
So, as evident as it is, Tencent’s gaming empire is facing some challenges, but I can assure you that they are not backing down. With AI on the rise, plans to revamp WeChat, and major changes to games like Tower of Fantasy, it appears they’re preparing for round two in the tech arena. Let’s see what surprises are in store for us!
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