WeChat introduces in-app gaming tab

The China-based messaging and payments platform WeChat is adding an in-app mini-gaming platform to let users play basic games like Tetris, open to developers worldwide.

The company had listed two developers outside China for now and Google was one of them with its doodling game -- "Guess My Sketch".

WeChat said its mini games platform grew to over 400 million monthly active users, but that was still less than half of how many monthly active users were on the app -- 1.082 billion mostly from China, The Verge reported on Thursday.

With its gaming platform, WeChat promises new developers joining in from around the world profit shares.

"There is a programme that developers can apply to, called 'Creativity Incentives' which parent company Tencent launched in December to encourage developers to experiment creatively with art, music, and storytelling," the report said.

"The programme grants deserving developers an additional 20 per cent cut in revenue."

WeChat's decision of introducing an in-app gaming tab comes after other social networking giants like Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube incorporated dedicated gaming-related spaces as part of their main apps.

WeChat's attempts to expand abroad had faltered after it went international in 2012. The new announcement could help the app better establish itself in markets outside of China, the report added.

--IANS

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