TikTok tests its gaming app for users in Vietnam

TikTok, the video-sharing app, is conducting gaming tests for users in Vietnam, with the aim of expanding into South-East Asia.

Tik Tok and the testing of its gaming app in Vietnam

According to reports, video-sharing social network TikTok is reportedly conducting tests to allow users in Vietnam to play games on its app, expanding into the gaming sector.

TikTok boasts over 1 billion monthly active users and Vietnam has become an attractive market, with 70% of citizens under the age of 35 using the platform.

This is a combination that the Chinese-owned social network ByteDance would like to focus on, not least because the presence of gaming on TikTok would increase advertising revenue and the time users spend on the app. 

Tests could start as early as the third quarter of 2022. 

Tik Tok and the introduction of gaming in the video-sharing app

Specifically, a representative of TikTok stated that the company has been testing the introduction of HTML5 games, a common form of minigame, into its app through ties with game developers and third-party studios such as Zynga Inc. 

Here are his words in the email to Reuters:

“We’re always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community”.

In any case, although the company will start with minigames, which tend to have simple game mechanisms and a short playtime, its ambitions in gaming extend beyond that. 

In order to officialize and deploy games on the platform in Vietnam, TikTok will need a licence as the country prohibits games that depict gambling, violence and sexual content. 

Another likelihood is that TikTok’s games will contain advertisements from the start, with revenue split between ByteDance and the game developers. 

Netflix’s expansion into gaming

The global streaming movie giant, Netflix, also made it known in early March that it wanted to expand into gaming, acquiring Finland-based mobile game developer and publisher, Next Games, for a whopping EUR 65 million. 

Another stated goal of Netflix is also to build a portfolio of world-class, ad-free, in-app purchase-free games that will be enjoyed by all its users around the world. 

Gaming fascinates companies in all sectors, even those of the calibre of Tesla, which first introduced gaming in its cars back in 2019. The list of games available on Tesla Arcade had grown to 20 games by the end of February 2022.