by Josh Ye and Phuong Nguyen
HONG KONG/HANOI, May 19 (Reuters) – TikTok has launched a test phase in Vietnam as part of a massive project that aims to allow users of the video-sharing app to play games, said four sources familiar with the matter.
Offering games on its platform would increase TikTok’s advertising revenue as well as time spent on the app — one of the most popular in the world with more than a billion monthly active users.
Vietnam is an attractive market for social media platforms such as TikTok, Meta Platforms’ Facebook, as well as Alphabet’s Youtube and Google, as nearly 70% of its population is under 35, a youth also keen on technology.
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, plans to roll out its gaming program more widely in Southeast Asia, according to the four sources. Two of them added that this deployment could take place as early as the third quarter.
The four sources declined to be identified because this information has not yet been made public.
A representative from TikTok said the company had tested integrating HTML5 games — a common form of mini-game — on the app through ties with third-party game developers and studios such as Zynga, but didn’t. declined to comment on plans for Vietnam or broader application.
“We are always looking for ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community,” the representative said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
ByteDance did not respond to a request for comment. (French version Dina Kartit, edited by)