z*******n
发帖数: 1034 | 1 December 22, 2014 6:00 AM
Dean Takahashi
Rumors say that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is designing a high-end
game console to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4
in China, according to market researcher Niko Partners, which follows the
Chinese game market closely.
Alibaba declined comment. Lisa Cosmas Hanson, the managing director at Niko
Partners, said in an email that she heard from a credible source that
Alibaba may release the machine early next year. But she has not been able
to independently confirm the rumor. A spokesperson for Alibaba said it does
not comment on market rumors or speculation. If true, the move could shake
up the video game business in China, where consoles were banned for 15 years
by the government.
We haven’t been able to verify the rumor as fact, but we think it carries
enough gravity to report it. You can use your own judgment about its
veracity, and we’ll keep trying to dig out the facts on it. We don’t
report most rumors, but Niko Partners is a good source of information.
China lifted the ban earlier this year, and Microsoft launched the Xbox One
console in September, and Sony said today it would launch the PS4 in China
on Jan. 11. Alibaba is also a global company, and if it succeeds in China,
who knows what it could do with a game console in the rest of the world. Two
other sources, including the CEO of a Chinese game company, confirmed that
they had independently heard the same rumor as Cosmas Hanson.
But launching consoles is hard work. Alibaba could quicken its path to
market by using the Android operating system from Google, but it would face
many rivals on that front in China. Alibaba would also have to get a lot of
support from game developers and publishers. Sony plans to launch with 70
partners, and Microsoft also has support from a lot of game makers.
Cosmas Hanson said she does not believe that Alibaba will use Android or
Linux and instead will go for the high-end.
“They have been talking to developers about potentially getting content,
some of if domestically developed to avoid the headaches of foreign game
content rules yet there are of course domestic content rules too,” Cosmas
Hanson said.
Alibaba is one of the few companies that could make a credible maneuver into
console games. Alibaba had a massive initial public offering this year,
raising $25 billion in cash on the strength of its e-commerce business. It
is one of the few tech companies that could make Microsoft and Sony look
small.
The Chinese government encourages companies to make their systems in China
or to tap local game makers as partners.
Alibaba has become active in the game market lately, as it has made a lot of
moves to counter rival Tencent, the Chinese social giant which is the
largest game company in the world. Alibaba invested in a social mobile
gaming platform called KTplay, and it put $120 million into Kabam. It was
also the lead investor in a big round of funding for Tango, which has mobile
messaging service that is targeting game players. It also agreed to take
the Ubitus cloud-gaming service into China, and it is taking Rovio’s Angry
Birds: Stella into China. Most of those investments, however, are focused on
mobile games or Android games for TVs. | T**********l
发帖数: 12149 | 2 RE
4
Niko
does
【在 z*******n 的大作中提到】
: December 22, 2014 6:00 AM
: Dean Takahashi
: Rumors say that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is designing a high-end
: game console to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4
: in China, according to market researcher Niko Partners, which follows the
: Chinese game market closely.
: Alibaba declined comment. Lisa Cosmas Hanson, the managing director at Niko
: Partners, said in an email that she heard from a credible source that
: Alibaba may release the machine early next year. But she has not been able
: to independently confirm the rumor. A spokesperson for Alibaba said it does
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