Tencent is ready to take the next big step and enter the growing metaverse market.
What’s Tencent Doing?
Tencent is creating its own metaverse-driven division called the extended reality unit. The term ‘extended reality’ refers to a variety of immersive technologies including augmented reality and virtual reality. The unit will look after all metaverse-related tasks including software and hardware developments.
The company has plans to hire more than 300 individuals to fill the unit. The announcement comes as a surprise to some since Tencent was recently in the news for taking major cost-cutting measures. However, according to the company, the hiring plans for the unit remain flexible as the business is still in the initial stage of execution and the headcount may increase or decrease based on performance.
The unit was originally formed earlier this year but the company kept it a secret, according to many sources. The division is expected to be led by Li Shen, the current Global’s Chief Technology Officer. It will be a part of Tencent’s entertainment division.
More About Tencent
Tencent is a Chinese entertainment and technology giant with a strong global presence. With the launch of this new unit, it is ready to go even bigger and compete against other players including Microsoft and Meta who are already in the production of XI and AR hardware.
Known best for producing video games, Tencent is the largest company in the gaming industry. Its services include smartphones, social networks, e-commerce, music, mobile games, web portals, internet services, payment systems, and online games.
The company is financially very strong and has been in business for more than two decades.
Where’s Metaverse Headed?
The Metaverse, said to be made popular by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, is already worth USD 40 billion. It is expected to hit the USD 1607 billion mark by 2030 with a CAGR of over 50 percent.
New players are entering the market including new and established names. Facebook, now called META, is already working nonstop to build a future based on the metaverse concept. Even Disney is reported to be working on metaverse-related projects and other Chinese companies such as TikTok aren’t far behind either.
Tech giant Apple has also jumped the bandwagon and is using XR technologies to build hardware including headset units. Businesses that are quick to enter the market will have the early entrant advantage. However, big sums are needed for research and development in this area, which is causing some of these companies to lose money. In fact, Meta even acknowledged this recently but it believes that the metaverse is the future and this investment will offer great results in the long run.
