Tencent will throw its forces into the development of its own Twitch analogue after the ban on the merger of Huya and DouYu
In July, the Chinese antimonopoly service blocked the merger of Huya and DouYu in order to prevent them from capturing the entire market of gaming streaming services in China. Against the background of the failure, Tencent began to reallocate resources for the development and expansion of its own platform like Twitch.The new plans of the Chinese giant were reported by Bloomberg.
Tencent has already formed a new team to expand its Penguin Esports streaming app.
The company dissolved the division that was supposed to operate Huya and DouYu if the deal was approved. Some of the people will be transferred to the new department. It was headed by Huya Chairman Huang Lingdong. The post of deputy went to Bobby Jin, who previously managed the Chinese esports league League of Legends.
Thus, Tencent intends to compensate for the losses associated with the ban of the transaction. The company plans to strengthen its position in the local streaming services market. However, so far Tencent representatives have not commented on reports of restructuring and the creation of a new department.
For the first time, the merger of the streaming platforms Huya and DouYu became known last October. Tencent, which owns stakes in both companies, was to receive 68% of the shares of the new organization. The Chinese giant also planned to invest $500 million to integrate Penguin Esports into the new platform and turn it into a local analogue of Twitch.
However, the deal did not suit the local authorities, who saw it as a violation of antimonopoly legislation. The fact is that in the event of a merger, the Tencent-controlled service would control about 90% of the Chinese gaming streaming market.