Tencent says it has the technology to build the metaverse and Beijing does not oppose the concept
- The company can approach the metaverse through its video game and social networking businesses, according to Tencent president Martin Lau
- The last time a Tencent executive publicly spoke about the metaverse was at the company’s annual video gaming conference in May
Tencent Holdings, the world’s biggest gaming company and operator of Chinese super app WeChat, officially broke its silence on the red-hot concept of the metaverse, saying it has an abundance of technologies to develop what has been called the next iteration of the internet.
Martin Lau, president of the Shenzhen-based company, said on an earnings call on Wednesday that it can potentially approach the metaverse through a range of businesses, citing video game development and social networking as major strengths. The 48-year-old executive also said Beijing does not appear to be “fundamentally averse” to the metaverse, although it would come up with a set of regulations different from the rest of the world.
“We have a lot of tech and capability building blocks that will allow us to approach the metaverse opportunity through [multiple pathways],” Lau said.
Until now, Tencent executives have not publicly discussed the metaverse in any detail. Instead, they have opted to promote the company’s own concepts of “all-real internet” and “hyper digital reality”.
Chinese market regulators have been wary of the concept of metaverse. The bull run of some so-called metaverse concept stocks listed in Shenzhen and Shanghai recently prompted queries from authorities.