Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Legislative overhaul on the cards for South Africa’s ICT sector

      14 July 2025

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      Trump tariffs could wreck South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing industry

      14 July 2025

      Microsoft South Africa to get new MD as Lillian Barnard moves to regional role

      14 July 2025

      Zuckerberg used open source to scale AI – now the lock-in begins

      14 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » Tencent says Beijing likely to support metaverse – as long as it obeys the rules

    Tencent says Beijing likely to support metaverse – as long as it obeys the rules

    By Agency Staff11 November 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Chinese social media giant Tencent Holdings expects Beijing to allow “metaverse” virtual environment services, now the talk of Silicon Valley, to operate in China — provided they fall in line with Chinese rules.

    In some of its first public comments on the metaverse, Tencent, China’s biggest company by market value, welcomed the potential for gaming business opportunities in a post-earnings call on Wednesday, but acknowledged China’s version of the metaverse would need to be different to the rest of the world’s.

    “There’s a lot of technologies that’s related to the development of games as well as for the metaverse,” Tencent president Martin Lau told analysts on a call peppered with questions about the metaverse.

    Wuestions have been raised among tech investors about how it might evolve in China

    Investors have pored over the prospects for the burgeoning virtual reality world ever since Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta Platforms, announced that he would devote the future of his company on building a metaverse.

    Microsoft and Disney have also said they are also working on their own metaverses.

    “The Chinese government will be in support of the development of such technologies as long as the user experience is actually provided under the regulatory framework,” said Tencent’s Lau.

    Amid the metaverse fervour, questions have been raised among tech investors about how it might evolve in China, where the Internet is tightly censored and authorities have waged a wide-raging crackdown against its once free-wheeling giants, including Tencent since last year.

    Banned

    Regulators have banned all crypto transactions, tightened oversight of the gaming industry and also warned against “blind” investment in metaverse-linked stocks.

    Lau said although there would be likely different sets of rules concerning the metaverse for China and the world, this was “not fundamentally averse to the development of metaverse”.

    Tencent, the world’s largest online gaming firm by revenue, is by far leading the charge in China on the concept of virtual worlds, which has also attracted the interest of rivals such as NetEase and TikTok owner ByteDance, according to data firm NewZoo.

    Lau said there were “multiple pathways” to the metaverse opportunity, such as through interactive games or a social network serving as a “gamefield”.

    We have a lot of tech and capability building blocks that will allow us to approach the metaverse opportunity

    “We have a lot of tech and capability building blocks that will allow us to approach the metaverse opportunity,” he said.

    Tencent owns a 40% stake in Epic Games and has a joint venture with Roblox, both of which are working on their own metaverses.

    The company, whose businesses also include China’s dominant social networking and messaging app WeChat, has registered over 20 metaverse-related trademarks for its apps in China and is working on more immersive, multiplayer games.  — Reported by Brenda Goh, (c) 2021 Reuters



    Facebook Mark Zuckerberg Martin Lau Meta Platforms Tencent
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous Article2022 is the year to be bold, says Forrester
    Next Article It’s going to get even harder to buy a PlayStation 5

    Related Posts

    Zuckerberg used open source to scale AI – now the lock-in begins

    14 July 2025

    What Steve Jobs feared is now the tech industry’s reality

    9 July 2025

    Apple’s AI ambitions rattled by defection to Meta

    8 July 2025
    Company News

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025

    The future of business calling: Voys brings your landline to the cloud

    14 July 2025

    How digital twins and AI are shaping the future of security

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.