TikTok planning to introduce games, conducting tests in Vietnam: Reports

As per news source, the video-sharing app, TikTok is conducting tests in Vietnam so users can play games on it. People familiar with the matter said that it is a part of plans for a major push into gaming.

The games on the platform would enhance advertising revenue as well as the amount of time users spend on the app. It is one of the most popular app and has over 1 billion monthly active users.

Boasting a tech-savvy population with 70% of its citizens under the age of 35, Vietnam is an attractive market for social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Google.

The sources said that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok also has plans to roll out gaming more widely in Southeast Asia. That move could come as early as the third quarter, said two of them.

A TikTok representative said the company has tested bringing HTML5 games, a common form of minigame, to its app through tie-ups with third-party game developers and studios such as Zynga Inc (ZNGA.O). But it declined to comment on its plans for Vietnam or its broader gaming ambitions.

"We're always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community," the representative said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The sources also said that initially TikTok plans to draw on ByteDance's suite of games.

While the company will start with minigames, which tend to have simple game play mechanisms and a short playing time, its gaming ambitions extend beyond that, said one of the people who had direct knowledge of the matter.

TikTok will require a licence to feature games on its platform in Vietnam where authorities restrict games depicting gambling, violence, and sexual content. The process is expected to go smoothly as the games planned are not controversial, the person said.

Another source said, the games on TikTok may carry advertisements from the start with revenue split between ByteDance and game developers.

It also marks the latest ByteDance effort to establish itself as a major contender in gaming. It acquired Shanghai-based gaming studio Moonton Technology last year, putting it in direct competition with Tencent (0700.HK), China's biggest gaming firm.

Even without gaming, TikTok has seen advertising revenue surge. Its advertising revenue is likely to triple this year to more than $11 billion, exceeding the combined sales of Twitter and Snap, according to research firm Insider Intelligence.