News

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba acquires EJoy and sets up new games division

One of China's richest companies formally enters the games arena

Date Type Companies involved Size
October 2nd, 2017 acquisition Alibaba Not disclosed
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba acquires EJoy and sets up new games division

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has formally set up a new games division.

As reported by China Daily, the division has been set up by the Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group and aims to develop new games in-house.

Experienced team

As part of the move Alibaba has acquired online entertainment company EJoy, whose founder Zhan Zhonghui, also former Chief Operations Office at NetEase, will lead the new games group.

EJoy Product Operations Manager Chen Wei'an and former lead developer on Fantasy Westward Journey Wu Yunyang have also joined Alibaba’s new gaming group.

The news follows the formation of a global mobile games distribution venture earlier this year to help bring games to territories outside of a developer's local region. At the time the business had already had around $145 million invested into it.

The games industry has grown massively over the last few years and it's now one of the most  lucrative mobile games markets in the world.

With such big financial backing, Alibaba will be hoping to capitalise on the popularity of mobile games in the country, currently dominated by Tencent and NetEase.

 


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.