Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest video game publisher, is reportedly in early-stage talks with Meta Platforms Inc to distribute its Meta Quest line of virtual reality (VR) headsets in China. The talks began in 2021 and have continued over recent months, according to sources familiar with the matter. The details of the agreement have yet to be finalized.
Tencent, which had ambitious plans to develop VR software and hardware, reportedly decided to exit the XR (extended reality) hardware business due to profitability issues. The company launched an XR unit in June 2021 amid growing global interest in the metaverse concept of a virtual world.
As a software company, Tencent is mostly known for its suite of games and social media applications. It also sells the Nintendo Switch console in China through a partnership with the Japanese gaming firm established four years ago. One of Tencent’s main rivals in China’s VR space is ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, which also owns headset manufacturer Pico.
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