Tencent testing games on new platform

Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's largest Internet company, has started testing mobile gameplay on its upcoming open mobile platform, according to an article published Wednesday by the China Securities Journal.

A spokesperson from the tech giant confirmed this news with the Global Times, saying that Tencent had started trials Monday on a total of 11 games developed by the company itself and third-party producers for use on the new platform. Sources from Tencent explained that this platform would integrate several major Tencent apps, including text and voice messaging app WeChat as well as the mobile version of its instant messaging app QQ, but declined to offer further details or comment on when the platform would be made available for public use.

Many observers of China's Internet industry have been waiting for Tencent to introduce games for WeChat as the app's user base expands. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, WeChat had about 194 million active monthly users, up 228.4 percent from the same time in 2012, data from Tencent's most recent earnings report show. Meanwhile, the company's QQ service boasted roughly 825 million active monthly users by the end of March, up 8.9 percent year-on-year.

"Integrating games with its social networking and communication apps will likely help Tencent increase its user stickiness," Cao Di, an analyst with Internet research firm iResearch, told the Global Times Wednesday, referencing an industry term for the length of time spent on a particular website or app.

Tencent brought in a total of 22.85 billion yuan ($3.72 billion) in revenue from online gaming in 2012, accounting for nearly half of the country's online gaming market that year, according to reports published Wednesday in the Securities Times.

Cao went on to say that Tencent's latest maneuvers in the mobile games market are expected to lift the earnings of developers by helping them reach a larger audience.

Stock investors appeared to have had similar ideas as equities related to China's mobile gaming market rose broadly Wednesday. Shenzhen-listed Shenzhen Zhongqingbao Interaction Network Co, an online game developer, saw its share price increase 5.55 percent to close at 38.79 yuan Wednesday.