TikTok owner ByteDance scores video game hit in Japan, sharpening rivalry with Tencent

China’s ByteDance, the world’s most valuable start-up, has scored a video game hit in Japan with martial arts-themed Combat of Hero, as the owner of popular app TikTok sharpens its rivalry with Tencent Holdings.

The casual mobile game, which was published by ByteDance-owned Ohayoo studio in Japan last December, has been the most downloaded free iOS title in the market for four consecutive days since March 7, according to data from apps analytics firm App Annie.

Combat of Hero, developed by Shenzhen-based independent studio PeakX Games, is also trending in other Asian markets, App Annie data showed. It was the third most downloaded free iOS game in South Korea as of Tuesday, while ranking between sixth and tenth place in mainland China so far this month.

That performance by Combat of Hero – in which a player must learn new kung fu skills as well as obtain weapons to defeat opponents and advance in gameplay – shows the measured approach taken by ByteDance to build up its video game credentials in major markets in its bid to challenge Tencent, which runs the world’s biggest games business by revenue.

ByteDance has moved to diversify its operations by forming a team of more than 1,000 for its video games business, following its acquisition of a number of game studios including Pangu Game Global and Shanghai Mokun Digital Technology. The Beijing-based start-up, valued at about US$78 billion last year, has relied mostly on advertising revenue to date, from its core content businesses that include TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin and news aggregator Jinri Toutiao.