Guangzhou-based web game publisher Forgame has acquired a 69.84% stake in virtual reality startup Beijing Xigua Huyu Entertainment Technology Co., Ltd for RMB 150 million (USD 21.8 million), 36Kr reported on Monday.
Xigua, which was set up in 2015, now has nearly 100 VR experience stores in large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. These stores, which have a physical footprint between 150 and 200 square meters, feature player-versus-player games such as Invincible Force and player versus environment games such as Zombie Warfare.
Wang Dongfeng, chairman of Forgame, said the acquisition was due to his company’s expectations of the VR market within the next decade. He expects VR to be a defining medium for entertainment, presenting massive opportunities for content producers in the coming ten years.
That mirrors similar predictions made recently by a Chinese official.
Wu Shengwu, vice director of the information department of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said last week that he thinks China’s virtual reality industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 95.2% in the next three years, hitting RMB 54.5 billion (nearly USD 8 billion) in 2021.
36Kr is the parent company of KrASIA.