Since at least March, Tencent has been testing a live-streaming platform in the U.S. The new service is called Trovo Live, and, according to Bloomberg, it “closely resembles Twitch in its appearance and functionality.”
Unlike Twitch, however, Trovo mostly focuses on mobile games.
Outside of Tencent-owned hits like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile, Trovo also features Grand Theft Auto and Destiny 2. Creators can benefit from a $30 million partnership program that is kicking off in July. Some creators have already defected from from Twitch, YouTube and Mixer, the latter being shut down in under a month.
Should Twitch owners at Amazon be worried? Not just yet. Trovo’s live streams have peaked at a few dozen viewers at a time, with its Discord chat channel only boasting around 5,000 members.
Then again, Tencent is clearly serious about its presence in the streaming market. In April, the company paid around $262.6 million to purchase a controlling stake in the streaming service called Huya.