It’s no secret that China based Tencent’s WeChat service will be launching cross platform gaming, but one question that lingered was when the service would roll out. WeChat’s gaming platform will be competing directly with both Kakao Game and LINE Games as it brings the popular messaging app into video game territory.
As we saw earlier this month with the beta launch of LinkLink, Tencent and its WeChat app certainly have a really good chance of making massive strides in the new territory. One of the hiccups it faces, though, is the lack of a payment system integrated within the app, preventing users from being able to purchase games as they are released. Tencent has been going back and forth regarding what kind of system to implement, whether it should be a WeChat-based proprietary system or via carrier supported billing, which will let carriers take some of the revenue and could result in slightly higher prices for games.
Despite the existence of these — what some would call — roadblocks, Tencent is moving full speed ahead and planning to launch the gaming platform before the end of August, with four games launching initially in international markets and localized for Chinese players: Wolf Moon by WeMade, Plants vs Zombies 2 from EA/PopCap, Halfbrick’s Fruit Ninja, and Temple Run 2 by Imangi.
It’s certainly possible that WeChat will find itself with a series of big hits for mobile gamers. Whether or not its gaming platform will see the same success of LINE or especially KakaoTalk awaits to be seen. Stay tuned to our official WeChat page for all the latest news regarding WeChat and its upcoming gaming platform.