Also, Gushcloud buys back its company and Tencent restricts WeChat publishing
Tencent and Sea Group ink deal for first publishing rights in Southeast Asia
Garena, the gaming arm of SeaGroup, announced today it has signed a letter of intent with Tencent which will give Garena the right to first refusal for publishing Tencent properties across Southeast Asia.
The deal covers Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Garena has already published Tencent content as it is the company behind Arena of Valor and League of Legends in Southeast Asia.
“This arrangement can bring top quality IP to the large and growing games community in our region,” said SeaGroup Chairman Forrest Li in a statement.
Google/Tencent report predicts 3x market growth amid growing mobile proliferation — [e27]
Southeast Asia’s internet economy is set to skyrocket to US$240 billion by 2025 — about triple the size (US$72 billion) this year — according to the e-Conomy SEA 2018 report jointly commissioned by Google and Temasek.
The report, which takes into account four key internet sectors, online travel, online media, ride-hailing, and e-commerce, states that the figure is US$40 billion more than their previous forecast in their 2017 report.
This massive growth can be attributed to the region’s mobile-first economy. More users are coming online than before, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones.
Gushcloud Founders buy back control of their company for US$8.2 million – [e27]
Gushcloud, an influencer marketing company, announced today it has paid US$8.2 million to buy back 62 per cent of the company from investor Yello Digital Marketing Group (YDMG).
YDMG had bought the controlling stake back in 2015. The move was made to take the company beyond influencer marketing. The company thanked YDMG for helping it break into new markets and is now looking forward to diversifying.
Gushcloud International has 200 employee working across nine offices globally, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and Los Angeles.
Tencent crackdown hits WeChat as company restricts publishing channels — [South China Morning Post]
The China crack down on digital content has finally reached WeChat. Tencent announced today it is reducing the number of channels available for content producers on the platform, according to the South China Morning Post.
Companies will be allowed to have two accounts (from the previous number of 5) and individuals will only get one account (they used to be allowed two).
The decision comes in the context of an online crackdown by the Chinese government. According to the article, Beijing has closed 9,800 social media accounts since the start of October.
Apple cuts production orders for iPhones — [Reuters]
Apple has reportedly cut production numbers for the most recent iPhone models, a decision that will raise eyebrows about the popularity of the newest editions, according to Reuters.
The decision comes just after the company announced it will no longer reveal the number of units sold in its quarterly reports. The company has already prepared investors for lower-than-expected numbers in the upcoming holiday season.
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The post Today’s top tech news, November 19: Tencent and Sea Group tie up for games publishing appeared first on e27.