The Chinese tech and entertainment giant, Tencent, takes another step toward the metaverse. The firm in an announcement revealed that it is developing an extended reality unit.
All the initiatives that the company will be taking with the purpose of diving into the metaverse-driven market, are included in the unit, according to Reuters.
Li Shen, the current Global’s Chief Technology Officer, will lead the division. It will come under the entertainment division of the company. Although there isn’t much information present regarding the direction in which the unit aims to move forward, sources reveal that the firm will be developing both hardware and software products for the metaverse. This move will make Tencent a strong competitor for tech giants such as Microsoft and Meta in the east with the hypothetical production of AR and XI hardware.
In the cooperative structure of Tencent, the extended reality unit doesn’t look like any other unit. It is believed that the unit was under development since the start of the year. The software giant intends to onboard 300 individuals focused on different metaverse-driven projects.
ALSO READ – Harmony Protocol team offering a $1 million prize for stolen cryptocurrencies
Even though the company has been slowing down the recruitment process and taking cost-cutting measures because of the macroeconomic conditions of the market, its latest move shows how much priority has it given the metaverse and extended reality. The unit is being said as a passion project of the founder of Tencent. However, there are chances that the goal might change moving forward as per the performance and focus of the unit.
Tech giants such as Meta, formerly Facebook, too are putting all their efforts into introducing new metaverse platforms and devices and leading the world in the metaverse venture. Meta wants to be the first to roll out a cohesive virtual reality platform. Though as Meta recently admitted it will make them lose money in the R&D department.
Moreover, firms are also seeking to draft complete metaverse standards. The Metaverse Standards Forum is launched by Microsoft, Meta, and other companies such as Epic Games. With this forum, they aim to collect information from the establishment of jointly created standards for metaverse platforms.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/06/27/tencent-announced-the-launch-of-extended-reality-unit-as-it-dives-into-metaverse/