TikTok Announces 'Major Push' Into Gaming
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TikTok Announces 'Major Push' Into Gaming

by Kenna McCafferty

What can’t TikTok do? The ByteDance owned app, which started as the Musically lip-synch video platform — ah, simpler times — has become one of the most used, and all encompassing apps out there. Now, they’re taking it one step further, by adding games to the platform.

Reportedly, the video app is planning a “major push” to incorporate gaming and are already testing new game capabilities in Vietnam. Gaming features have also been available on ByteDance’s Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, since 2019.

Never late to a trend, TikTok has also apparently hosted a handful of games in North America, including Zynga’s music and dance challenge games Disco Loco 3D — which looks like a Just Dance meets Guitar Hero hybrid — and Garden of Good, where players grow vegetables which translate to donations by TikTok to Feeding America. Though we haven’t seen either of those on our For You page, just yet.

The “major push” is reported to be an effort to increase profits, with plans to up its gaming rollout in Southeast Asia as early as Q3 of 2022, according to a Reuter’s exclusive. The information has yet to be publicly disclosed by the company, so we’re coming to you with the inside scoop. Representatives said the company has tested HTML5 games through third-party game developers and studios, allowing for cross-platform play.

“We’re always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community,” said a TikTok representative via email.

The gaming integration could certainly be valuable, boosting advertising revenue as well as the amount of time users spend on the app. As if our screen times aren’t high enough already, the clock app is about to become even more addicting, tapping into our dopamine receptors’ responses to the risk-and-reward excitement that comes with games.

Photo via Getty/ Drew Angerer