Chinese tech giant Tencent has pulled the plug on plans for VR headsets. It would take too long for these glasses to be profitable and Tencent would have to invest too much in this first. That’s why it stops with the project.
At the VR branch, almost three hundred people, according to Reuters sources. The company had developed a concept for a “ring-shaped controller,” but did not expect the project to be profitable until 2027, according to Reuters. One of the sources also said that the business unit was struggling with developing games and other software. Due to these issues and the deteriorating economic outlook, Tencent is halting its VR hardware plans, according to the sources. The company denies that the department will disappear, but says nothing about stopping the VR headsets.
Bloomberg sources spoke for the first time early last year about Tencent’s VR plans. Part of those plans was the alleged planned acquisition of gaming smartphone maker Black Shark. With that acquisition, Tencent expected to be able to deploy an additional thousand people to work on VR headsets, according to Reuters sources. In addition, Black Shark’s experience in the supply chain, among other things, would help with making headsets. However, Tencent abandoned that acquisition because the Chinese tech giant changed strategy and the acquisition of Black Shark would take a long time due to increased supervision by authorities.
