The WeGame vs Steam rivalry is growing! Tencent, the giant of the Chinese games market, wants to expand and take its PC game marketplace, WeGame, worldwide. Indeed, Tencent is currently preparing a worldwide launch of the platform, and it hopes that it will rival Steam.
Beginning with a Hong Kong edition of WeGame, Tencent is preparing for global domination. Hong Kong and China do not share all the same laws and rules when it comes to overseas media. The Hong Kong edition of WeGame will be the first time the popular platform will be officially made available outside of China.
For the unaware, WeGame is a platform similar in essence to Steam. It is an upgrade on Tencent’s original software, Tencent Games Platform. As of writing, there are only 220 titles available on WeGame, but this number is likely to rise dramatically following its launch in Hong Kong. Such a move into overseas markets could see WeGame’s worth shoot up to $28.6 billion. Crikey.
As reported on South China Morning Post, a spokesperson for Tencent explained the want to move into overseas markets, despite obvious strong opposition from Steam:
“The Hong Kong version of WeGame is now under development. This version will be available for overseas users, and we will use this platform to bring more Chinese games to the global market.”
It’s simple, really. A move into overseas markets can bring more revenue and players to Chinese-developed games.
How does WeGame plan on competing with Steam, however? First things first, Tencent needs to drastically increase the number of games on the platform. Compared to Steam’s 20,000+ titles, 220 doesn’t sound like very many games at all. Steam’s numbers are mighty, too. 43 million users log on to Steam every day. Tencent, do have a plan, though, and plenty of new games are set to be added to WeGame’s growing pool. Tencent owns large stakes of Epic Games, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard and Glu Mobile. In the coming months, titles such as Monster Hunter World and Fortnite will be hitting the platform.
It’s exciting times ahead for Tencent and WeGames, but there’s a lot of work to be done if Tencent wants to take on Steam.
