Huawei has teamed up with NetEase in the latest of a series of partnerships designed to develop cloud gaming for the domestic market. The companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Hangzhou on Wednesday, just days before NetEase launches a US$3 billion secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
By leveraging Huawei’s capabilities in internet infrastructure, the two companies said they will be positioned to integrate emerging technologies such as cloud gaming, artificial intelligence and 5G into products across the gaming, music and education sectors.
While under siege in the West over concerns about its dominance in 5G networks, Huawei has been actively recruiting tech allies at home, particularly gaming companies. Cloud-based gaming is seen by many as an important application of 5G, helping reduce reliance on the physical hardware inside consumer devices.
Cloud gaming’s promise to deliver sophisticated games on low cost devices has prompted Huawei to form partnerships with Chinese gaming giants including NetEase, Tencent, 37 Games and Yoozoo.
Huawei said its cloud gaming solution will help optimise the gaming experience of many of NetEase’s games including its marquee title Justice Online.
China’s second biggest gaming company, Nasdaq-listed NetEase recently reported first quarter net revenues of 17.1 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), with online games accounting 13.5 billion yuan of that.
