Tencent launches Dream Star, taking on NetEase’s Eggy Party in bid to take the lead in party games genre
- Dream Star is a mobile game where players can compete through obstacle courses with their friends
- Tencent plans to leverage the vast user base of its social media platforms, including WeChat and QQ, to attract users to Dream Star
Tencent Holdings has launched its eagerly awaited casual party game Dream Star in a direct challenge to a similar title by rival NetEase, as the world’s biggest video game publisher looks for its next blockbuster to fend off rising competition.
Dream Star, a mobile game where players can compete through obstacle courses with their friends, went live on Friday, after over 50 million users registered their interest through a reservation system.
Tencent, operator of China’s biggest social media app and the world’s largest gaming business by revenue, is pitting Dream Star against NetEase’s Eggy Party, a game in the same genre that was launched in China in May 2022. Eggy Party became a surprise hit with a relatively small budget, counting 500 million user registrations as of December 8 and 100 million monthly active users as of August.
Shenzhen-based Tencent is pinning high hopes on the new title and has pledged 1.4 billion yuan (US$197 million) for the game in its first phase of investment, mostly on an incentive scheme for content creators. Funds will also be used for the establishment of an esports ecosystem for the game, according to an earlier launch event.
Tencent is up against tough competition from domestic rivals, with Shanghai-based miHoYo, developer of Genshin Impact, seen as a rising star.
Zhang Shule, an analyst with CBJ Think Tank, said domestic gaming companies face a “critical moment to grab the top spot” in the party games genre, and that the Chinese Lunar Year holiday could be an important period for companies to “achieve explosive growth”.