TikTok is moving further into the games industry by launching its own dedicated gaming channel.
According to a report from Financial Times, the channel will allow TikTok users to access games by pressing a tab on the ByteDance-owned social media platform’s homepage. Four people familiar with the matter said that the channel will feature a variety of mobile games — some of which the company already developed — with ads and additional content that users can purchase.
Overnight @ft scoop – @tiktok is launching a dedicated channel for gaming — headed by Assaf Sagy who says: “TikTok and gaming were made for each other”
With @CristinaCriddle @Techmeme
TikTok to launch standalone gaming channel https://t.co/WjgKFZ0lDB pic.twitter.com/FFb8q0lUFa
— Patrick McGee (@PatrickMcGee_) October 27, 2022
The gaming channel will be led by Assaf Sagy, whom TikTok appointed as the new Global Head of Gaming two weeks ago. “TikTok and Gaming were made for each other,” Sagy said in a LinkedIn post at the time. “For more than a decade, the Gaming industry has been growing faster than any other to become one of the world’s most common forms of entertainment. With three billion active players, publishers are now launching games with the intention of creating mega brands and appealing to the masses. TikTok has far shown its value in helping consumers discover what’s fun, valuable, and popular. I look forward to working closely with all Gaming companies globally to help make TikTok a central foundation in your marketing strategies.”
It’s currently unknown when the new channel will be added to TikTok. However, it is likely it will be announced during TikTok Made Me Play It, the company’s first gaming livestream event, on November 2. The stream will feature speakers from various gaming companies, including EA, 2K, NetEase Games, VNG Games, and Homa.
TikTok’s plans to launch a gaming channel come five months after it began investing in games, testing them on young audiences in Vietnam, and placing minigames within the app in an effort to keep users engaged with the platform. It also comes after ByteDance laid off hundreds of game developers at two game studios last month, making their jobs redundant or transferring them internally to other departments.
