Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced that it will be making a mobile gaming investment worth 1 billion yuan this year, technode.com reported.
Through its gaming unit Ali Gaming, the Internet powerhouse is renewing its efforts to gain a footing in China's booming gaming industry.
The announcement came after Alibaba revealed that it will be teaming up with its almost half-owned film outfit Alibaba Pictures to "integrate its cultural and entertainment resources," the article said.
Reports stated that Ali Gaming will be using the 1-billion mobile gaming investment fund to create an intellectual property (IP) gaming ecology.
The venture will be undertaken by Alibaba Pictures together with the firm's literature unit, Alibaba Literature, and popular video streaming platform, Youku Tudou.
In the local entertainment jargon, IP refers to game titles or online literature that can be adapted to TV dramas, or vice versa
.Apart from this endeavor, Alibaba's gaming unit will also be working hand in hand with different gaming distributors to help promote locally-made mobile games abroad. The partnering companies, including Efun, TFJoy, Mail.Ru and ONEMT, will also be bringing foreign game titles to the country.
Alibaba hopes that its units such as the Android app marketplace 9APPS, news app UC News and web browser UC Web--all of which have gained popularity in foreign markets--will help boost Ali Gaming in terms of marketing and traffic.
The company is also optimistic that its cloud provider, Alibaba Cloud, will also be significant in its gaming unit's expansion overseas. Currently, Alibaba Cloud has 13 data centers and has a presence in more than 30 countries.
Recent statistics show that rivals Tencent and NetEase hold the largest chunk of China's gaming sector in the first half of 2016--60 percent. Tencent gains a revenue of 34.2 billion yuan while NetEase earns around 12.5 billion yuan.