TikTok is diving into games

By Cristina Alexander May 20, 2022

TikTok is pulling a Netflix and embarking on its latest attempt to keep users engaged on the app: Video games.

According to a report from Reuters, four sources familiar with the matter said that the short-form video platform and its parent company ByteDance have been conducting tests on video games in Vietnam. To the surprise of no one, the test group comprises mostly young users — specifically, users under the age of 35 — as they are more tech-savvy than older generations.

TikTok said its gaming venture will start small, putting in minigames that have simpler gaming mechanics and shorter game times. The content of those games will be mild in nature, as Vietnam has a zero-tolerance policy on games that contain drugs, gambling, or sexual content.

Another source said that TikTok plans to implement advertisements in the games initially in order to rake in ad revenue from running them on the platform. A portion of the profits will go to ByteDance with the remainder being paid to game developers.

This isn’t the first time TikTok has tried giving games to its users. In the past, the platform has carried some HTML5 games, including last year’s Disco Loco 3D by Zynga, an endless runner that involves players collecting dance moves while challenging their friends and followers on the platform, and Garden of Good, where every vegetable players grow turns into donations to Feeding America. There’s no way to find those games and others on TikTok in the U.S., but Vietnam is getting a sneak preview on how to access them within the app.

TikTok is planning to roll out its games to larger parts of Southeast Asia sometime in the third quarter of 2022. It’s unknown if they’ll be rolled out to TikTok users outside that region.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Cristina Alexander

Gaming/Mobile Writer

Cristina Alexander has been writing since 2014, from opining about pop culture on her personal blog in college to reporting…

Gaming

All upcoming Xbox Series X games: 2024 and beyond

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

The Xbox Series X and Series S have now been out for three years, bringing better resolution, higher frame rates, and ray tracing to gamers around the world. And the upcoming Xbox Series X games on this list promise to continue to show off all those bells and whistles in fun, new experiences.

If you're eager to find out what Microsoft has in store for the years ahead, we've rounded up every game confirmed so far, including new offerings, franchise installments, and ports of existing titles. We're looking beyond the first-party projects here to encompass all the great games coming to this powerful piece of gaming hardware. Maybe some of them will end up being among the best games on Xbox Series X.
Upcoming Xbox Series X games 2024
The games listed below either have 100% confirmed release dates or solid release windows that we expect them to hit in 2024. Any games with more ambiguous release windows will be listed below the confirmed releases.

Gaming

The best single-player games

The Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom.

It's never been a better time to be a multiplayer gamer, with fantastic titles such as Fortnite, GTA Online, and Call of Duty: Warzone taking the industry by storm. However, the same can be said about single-player experiences, especially in recent years thanks to the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Dedicated single-player games are some of the richest, most beloved experiences in the medium, and in this list, we'll go through the very best. These are the best single-player games.

Gaming

The best Xbox Series X games for 2024

Key art for Starfield

After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.