iCandy Interactive partners with TikTok parent company to launch hit game Masketeers in China
iCandy Interactive aims to break into the lucrative Chinese mobile game market under a new game publishing deal with Ohayoo.
Mobile gaming company iCandy Interactive (ASX: ICI) is teaming up with China’s leading game publisher Ohayoo – owned by the parent company of TikTok – to launch a localised version of its hit game Masketeers: Idle Has Fallen in the country.
Under a newly formed three-year game publishing agreement, Ohayoo will localise and market the game for both Android and iOS, as well as third party app stores in mainland China.
Ohayoo is one of the fastest growing mobile casual game platforms in China, recording more than 500 million game downloads over the last 18 months.
It is also is the mobile gaming arm of ByteDance, the US$180 billion (A$237 billion) tech company that famously developed TikTok, one of the most popular apps in the world with more than 850 million monthly active users.
iCandy chairman Kin Wai Lau told Small Caps the partnership puts the company in an “enviable position, on the fastest track possible to enter the mobile gaming market of China, getting exposure to a large part of the Chinese online community almost immediately”.
“The Chinese gaming market is a new strategic market for iCandy at our growth phase as it is the world’s largest gaming market now,” he said.
Revenue sharing deal
Under the new deal, the partners will share the revenue generated by Masketeers in mainland China, with iCandy maintaining all intellectual property rights to the game.
Ohayoo will localise, publish and market the game in mainland China and in return, iCandy will receive between 15-35% of the revenue generated by Masketeers in the Chinese market on commercial terms in line with industry practice.
The game was recently reported to have reached $1 million in revenues in just over 60 days of launching in the United States – the fastest ever for an iCandy game.
“This entry into the Chinese market would translate into more catalyst for Masketeers,” Mr Lau said.
Breaking into the Chinese gaming market
According to MarketingToChina agency, China recorded more than US$36.5 billion in gaming revenue in 2019, putting it just behind the US as the world’s largest gaming market. Although, industry consensus following growth in 2020 has now put China in front.
Part of iCandy’s growth strategy is to penetrate the lucrative Chinese mobile game market.
“The management of iCandy believes [the company] can achieve this objective by leveraging on Ohayoo’s track record of product innovation and their deep grasp of the Chinese consumers’ needs and tastes, in addition to the very large community of online users that it has access to,” iCandy stated in today’s announcement.