Tencent has set up a new XR department.

Tencent has set up a new XR department.

It is said that Tencent has set up a new XR department. According to people familiar with the matter, the department's task is to build an augmented reality business for Tencent, including software and hardware, and it will become part of the company's Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG). It is said that Tencent has set up a new XR department.

It is reported that Tencent has set up a new XR department 1. According to reports, three people familiar with the matter said today that Tencent announced to employees on Monday that the company had formally established an "Extended Reality" (XR) department to bet on "Metauniverse".

According to these people familiar with the matter, the task of the department is to build an "augmented reality" business for Tencent, including software and hardware. The department will be led by Shen Li, global CTO of tencent games, and be affiliated to Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG).

Two people familiar with the matter said that the department will eventually have more than 300 employees. Considering that Tencent has been cutting costs and slowing down recruitment, this is a "not small" scale. Of course, people familiar with the matter also pointed out that there is still uncertainty in the recruitment plan, because Tencent will adjust the number of employees in this department according to its performance.

The three people also said that in fact, the department was first established earlier this year, but it has been "secret and undeclared". "Augmented Reality" refers to "immersive" technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and is regarded as the cornerstone of creating a "meta-universe". In this regard, Tencent did not comment.

Since Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, announced that he would enter the metauniverse, investors, entrepreneurs and technology giants all over the world began to pay attention to this "virtual world". Many companies from Microsoft to Disney have announced that they are developing their own "metauniverse"; From ByteDance to Apple, head-mounted display devices based on XR technology are also being manufactured.

This time, Tencent officially established the XR department, which also means that Tencent rarely enters the hardware market. Previously, Tencent was mainly known for its software, such as games and social media applications.

One of the people familiar with the matter also said that the department was regarded as the "passion project" of Ma, founder and CEO of Tencent. At the end of 2020, Ma first emphasized the importance of "meta-universe", which he called "all-real Internet".

The formal establishment of the XR department is in stark contrast to the layoffs of other departments of Tencent. Recently, Tencent has been implementing cost control measures to reduce non-core businesses, such as closing Penguin e-sports.

At present, in public, Tencent is basically vague about its "super universe" plan. Last June, 5438+065438+ 10, Tencent told analysts that it had many "technologies and capabilities" close to the "hyperuniverse", but did not disclose specific details.

Recently, a number of media reported that three people familiar with the matter revealed that Tencent Holdings announced to its employees on Monday the formal establishment of the "Extended Reality" (XR) department, officially betting on the metauniverse concept of the virtual world.

According to people familiar with the matter, the task of the department is to build an augmented reality service for Tencent, including software and hardware, which will become part of the company's Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG). The department will eventually have more than 300 employees. But the recruitment plan is still uncertain, because Tencent will adjust the number of employees in this department according to its performance.

People familiar with the matter also said that in fact, the department was first established earlier this year, but it has been "confidential". "Augmented Reality" refers to "immersive" technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and is regarded as the cornerstone of creating a "meta-universe".

In this regard, Tencent related personnel said that there is no such news inside.

In February this year, it was reported that Tencent had launched a brand-new "XR (Extended Reality) business", when the company was recruiting internally.

Speedway Yuan Cosmological Research Institute also learned that recently, Tencent Mutual Entertainment X Digital Creative Technology Joint Laboratory of Dunhuang Cultural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as "Technical Laboratory") was officially announced, announcing that the technical laboratory launched the first batch of cooperation projects "Digital Jingdong and the official virtual human Jiayao of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes", combining the cultural relics digitization technology of Dunhuang Research Institute and the game technology of Tencent Mutual Entertainment to create a full-fledged digital Jingdong online.

From this point of view, Tencent's move to lay out the metauniverse may be earlier than we expected, and rumors may come true. As early as the end of 2020, Ma first emphasized the importance of "hyperuniverse", which he called "all-real Internet".

Reuters quoted three people familiar with the matter as saying that Tencent Holdings announced on Monday the formal establishment of an "Extended Reality" (XR) department to bet on the virtual concept "metauniverse" of the next track. Tencent declined to comment.

Three sources said that the department was established earlier this year, but it has been kept secret. It is said that the task of this department is to build XR services for Tencent, including software and hardware, adding that this department will be led by tencent games Global Chief Technology Officer Shen Li and will become a part of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG).

Two sources said that the department will eventually have more than 300 employees, which is a very large number considering that Tencent has been cutting costs and slowing down recruitment. However, they also warned that the recruitment plan is still uncertain because the company will adjust the number of employees in the department according to the performance.

In February this year, Sina Technology said that Tencent was going to launch a brand-new business-Extended Reality)XR business, and recently started internal recruitment (that is, internal cross-departmental transfer).

In this internal information, Tencent said that the XR business is a brand-new business that the company has made great efforts to deal with the all-real Internet. The goal is to build a world-class hard technology team under the leadership of industry leaders and compete for the next ticket in the hard technology era. This service focuses on the XR ecosystem of the whole link, including the XR equipment on the hardware side, the perceptual interaction technology on the software side, the content and developer ecology on the content side and the industry side.

Tencent's internal living water covers three major directions: content ecology, operation and technology research and development, with more than 40 open jobs:

In terms of content ecology, Tencent will set up XR game studio, and the head of the studio will be recruited internally;

Operationally, the internal flow provides work applications in functional areas such as store products, ecological operation, business cooperation and industrial investment cooperation;

According to the data, Tencent will combine software and hardware to promote the launch of XR business. In addition to software and algorithms, the positions of hardware, optics, structure and quality engineers are also open.

It is reported that Tencent invested in Haishuhuan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. last year, thus laying out the XR (Extended Reality) field.

XR business will mark Tencent's rare entry into the hardware field. As we all know, Tencent is mainly famous for its games and social media software.

According to sources, this department is regarded as a very promising project of Ma, founder and CEO of Tencent. At the end of 2020, Ma Hua Teng first emphasized the importance of the meta-universe, which he called the "all-real Internet".

The introduction of the new team is in stark contrast to the layoffs in other departments of Tencent. Tencent has been implementing cost control measures to reduce non-core businesses, such as closing Penguin e-sports department to cope with the impact of regulatory repression.

In public, Tencent is basically silent about its metauniverse plan. Last June, 1 1, the company told analysts that it had many opportunities for "building blocks of technology and capabilities" to approach the hyperuniverse, but did not disclose more details.