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Live-streaming service providers Huya, DouYu to drive cloud-based gaming expansion in China

  • Huya recently introduced its Yowa cloud gaming service, following rival DouYu’s launch of its own cloud games platform in March
  • Both companies are controlled by Tencent Holdings, which runs the world’s largest video games business by revenue

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Chinese live-streaming game platform operator Huya has launched its own cloud gaming service, Yowa. Photo: Handout
Josh Ye

Chinese live-streaming service providers Huya and DouYu are poised to help drive the expansion of cloud-based gaming in China, according to analysts, as the two companies entice more players to access sophisticated desktop computer and console video games straight from a browser.

Guangzhou-based Huya recently introduced cloud gaming platform Yowa, with around 70 mobile and personal computer titles, following rival DouYu’s launch in March of its cloud gaming service with about 50 mobile and desktop titles.

“On paper, existing live-streaming services can expand their business significantly by trying to become a gaming platform, using their existing viewership as a base audience to market to,” said Serkan Toto, chief executive of game industry consultancy Kantan Games in Tokyo. “There is no doubt in my mind that Chinese companies execute a lot faster, invest more resources and are ready to experiment more than their Japanese or Western counterparts.”

That development would augur well in China, the world’s biggest video games market, where more than 720 million gamers – across mobile, desktop computer and console hardware, according to research firm Niko Partners – have increased the amount of time they play amid the coronavirus lockdowns.
The homepage of live-streaming game service provider DouYu, which is based in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province. The company launched its cloud gaming platform in March. Photo: Shutterstock
The homepage of live-streaming game service provider DouYu, which is based in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province. The company launched its cloud gaming platform in March. Photo: Shutterstock
As Chinese telecommunications network operators rapidly introduce 5G services nationwide, that would help fuel demand for cloud gaming – a market that is projected to be worth at least 4 billion yuan (US$566 million) by 2022, up from an estimated US$1 billion yuan this year, according to research firm CNG.
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