New player in town: TikTok plans to leap into gaming space

TikTok wants to get into gaming; tested in-app mini game last year (Image Source: Reuters)

Video sharing app TikTok is planning a major push into the gaming space, as per a Reuters report. Confirming this news, the Chinese social media giant said it is testing HTML 5 mini-games.

"We are always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community," it added.

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Sources told Reuters, TikTok plans to unveil ad-supported games that will be derived from parent company ByteDance's resume, with the goal of boosting revenue and increasing user engagement on the app. The ad revenue will be split between TikTok and ByteDance.

The company plans to roll the games out in Vietnam first. The country boasts of a population with 70 percent of its people under the age of 35, making it perfect for social media companies to explore.

Sources told Reuters that TikTok expects no problems in getting a gaming license in Vietnam, which restricts games that depict violence, gambling and sexual content. They said that TikTok's gaming roster is designed to be as uncontroversial as possible.

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While the initial batch of the mini-games will be simple, TikTok will expand its horizons beyond that, the report added.

TikTok is the world's most popular social media platform with more than a billion monthly active users on the app. It is planning a major push into the Southeast Asian market, and according to sources, that could happen by the third quarter of this year.