Tencent, the Chinese entertainment and technology giant, has announced that it will create a metaverse-driven division. This division is called the extended reality unit and will oversee all metaverse-driven endeavors, such as hardware and software development. Tencent reports that it aims to have over 300 employees in the extended reality unit. Tencent also gives this unit a lot of importance when it comes to cost cutting measures.
Tencent Announces Officially the Metaverse Division
Tencent, the largest Chinese software company, is taking another step towards the metaverse. According to Reuters, Tencent, a Chinese technology and entertainment company, has announced the establishment of an extended reality unit. It will oversee all initiatives the company is running with the goal of entering a metaverse-driven market.
The division will be led by the current Global’s Chief Technology Officer Li Shen, and will be part of the entertainment division of the company. Although there are not many details about how the unit will be managed, it is believed that Tencent will be producing both hardware and software products in order to compete with companies such as Meta and Microsoft.
Put the weight on top
The extended reality unit does not seem to be just another unit in Tencent’s corporative structure. The unit is rumored to have been kept secret since the beginning of this year. The company plans to hire more than 300 staff members to support different metaverse-driven initiatives.
It speaks volumes about how important Tencent’s metaverse and extended realities projects are, even though the company is executing cost-cutting actions and slowing down its hiring efforts because of macroeconomic conditions in the market. The unit was considered to be a passion project by Tencent founder. However, sources indicated that this vision may change over time depending on how the unit performs.
Meta and other companies have been also investing in metaverse platforms and devices to gain an advantage when it comes down to software and hardware. They want to become the first company to offer a coherent virtual reality platform. However, this will make them lose money in the R&D area, as Meta acknowledged recently.
Also, efforts have been made to create metaverse standards. Meta, Microsoft and Epic Games created the Metaverse Standard Forum with the goal of gathering data from the public to help coordinate the creation of standards for metaverse platforms.
Tencent is launching a metaverse operation. What are your thoughts? Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comment section.
Images CreditsShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons