Tencent is shutting down its Twitch-like game streaming service that goes by the name Penguin eSports starting June 2022.
People walk past the Tencent booth at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing on September 6, 2020.
Tencent Shuts Down Twitch-like Service
The video game streaming platform of the Chinese gaming firm, Tencent, is similar to Twitch works, wherein gamers are streaming their plays for the online world to see.
On top of that, Penguin eSports also hosts professional online gaming tournaments.
However, unlike the massively popular service, Twitch, Tencent's own version of the video streaming platform failed to capture the Chinese market, as per a news story by Tech Crunch.
Despite that, the news outlet highlighted that Tencent still owns the two biggest game streaming services in the Chinese nation, namely Huya and Douyu. It comes after the largest gaming firm in the world bought the two video-sharing platforms.
The headquarters of Tencent, the parent company of Chinese social media company WeChat, are seen in Beijing on August 7, 2020. - Beijing on August 7 accused the United States of "suppression" after President Donald Trump ordered sweeping restrictions against Chinese social media giants TikTok and WeChat. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
In fact, both Douyu and Huya combined also capture roughly 70 percent of the overall game streaming market in China, according to the market regulator of the Asian territory.
Tencent has already announced that Penguin eSports would no longer accept new users starting on April 7, Thursday. However, existing users of the service still have two months before the service fully shuts down.
Tencent's Penguin eSports Shut Down: Here's Why
According to a recent report by CNBC, the Chinese gaming firm is shutting down Penguin eSports on June 7, which will officially mark the demise of the Twitch-like streaming service.
Tencent announced that its move to cease the operation of Penguin eSports is part of its decision to change its business strategy.
Meanwhile, Tech Crunch said in its report that the end of Penguin eSports could likely be due to the numerous challenges that the gaming firm has been facing with the streaming service.
As mentioned earlier, the video streaming platform failed to conquer the Chinese maker. Not to mention that smaller services, such as Kuaishou and Bilibili are also closely competing with it as the two continue to rise in China.
What's more, the news outlet suggested that the demise of Penguin has something to do with the monopolistic position of the two gaming services of Tencent, namely Huya and Douyu.
It is also worth noting that the Chinese gaming firm also has a stake in other rising services that rival Penguin eSports, including Kuaishou and Bilibili.
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Written by Teejay Boris
