On Monday, Tencent announced the formation of an “extended reality” (XR) unit as the metaverse rush intensifies around the world. Extended reality refers to immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality, which are critical in the development of the metaverse.
The unit will be led by Li Shen, Chief Technology Officer of Tencent Games Global, and will be part of the Interactive Entertainment Group, responsible for building and expanding Tencent’s extended reality business.
Two sources close to the matter said the unit will have more than 300 employees, although they cautioned that hiring plans are still fluid and that Tencent would adjust the unit’s workforce based on performance.
The metaverse trend promoted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues to enjoy massive acceptance among top tech companies around the world.
Zuckerberg announced that he would dedicate the future of his company to building a metaverse. Companies such as Microsoft and Disney announced that they are working on their own metaverses. Chinese TikTok owner ByteDance and U.S. firms including Apple are also building their headset units that incorporate XR technology.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.