
What the death of QQ Pets tells us about China’s internet transformation
Tencent announces it is killing the iconic penguin pet game
Joining them soon will be a 13-year-old game from China -- one that has become part of the collective memory of a generation of internet users, coming of age along with the country’s dramatic online transformation over the last two decades.

For millions of people who grew up using Tencent’s desktop instant messenger QQ, its bundled pet penguin game was a constant presence. Just like how Clippy used to show up on our desktop screens uninvited, QQ Pets would pop up automatically whenever you turned on QQ.
Tencent, China’s social and entertainment giant
In China, QQ Pets was sort of like marmite or durian: You either loved it or hated it.

Now QQ Pets will be gone for good -- perhaps an inevitable development in a world that’s largely moved from desktop to mobile. Nowhere was the transformation more pronounced than in China.
In restaurants, people use their devices to order and pay for food. Outside, they bring up an app to swipe into the subway or hail a cab. And just as the rest of the world has moved on from AIM or MSN to WhatsApp or iMessage, the most popular messaging service in China now is a mobile app, WeChat. (QQ still exists on desktop, but also has a mobile version now.)
Eventually QQ Pets did develop a mobile version -- but it was too late. As QQ Pets recedes into the background, there is no shortage of mobile (and blockchain) smartphone games striving to become the next big hit.
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For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
