Tencent Holdings has started talks with tech behemoth Meta Platforms Inc. to implement plans for marketing its Meta Quest series of virtual reality (VR) headgear in the Chinese market, according to some resources that possess knowledge on the subject.
A year ago, Tencent and Meta started working together, and they have continued doing so in recent times. Because of this, the talks are still in their early stages, and no solid agreements have been made. When asked what they thought about the possible new development, none of the companies gave a response or any information. The discussions were initially reported on by the Chinese media outlet 36Kr and then later by the Wall Street Journal.
For the purpose of creating virtual reality (VR) software and hardware, the world’s largest video game publisher, Tencent, launched a “extended reality” (XR) business in June last year. The decision was made because of the widespread fascination with the idea of a virtual world. But, Reuters reported earlier this week that the corporation has decided to discontinue developing its own virtual reality (VR) technology, citing financial worries as one of the primary reasons. According to reports, the majority of the unit’s employees were given orders to seek employment elsewhere.
At the time, Tencent said that it was in the process of reorganising many of its business teams in light of its updated goals for the development of hardware. ByteDance, which owns both TikTok and Pico and also makes virtual reality headsets, is one of its most important competitors in China.
The majority of the time, people know Tencent for its software, which includes a number of different games and applications for social networking. It has a partnership with the Japanese video game firm that has lasted for four years, and as a result, it is able to sell the Nintendo Switch system in China.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta and the current CEO of the company, stated earlier this month that a superior version of mixed reality (MR) technology would be included in Meta’s next-generation consumer headset, which will be released at some point this year. Zuckerberg made this announcement during a conference call with investors. In the most recent earnings report, Zuckerberg said that although the Meta Reality ecosystem is still in its infancy, he is optimistic that it will see tremendous growth over the course of a few years.
Zuckerberg thinks that this technology will become the standard for all headsets and augmented reality (AR) glasses in the future when our next-generation consumer headset with Meta Reality comes out later this year. He claimed that the company’s VR devices have generated over $1 million in sales through more than 200 different applications.