The service Penguin Esports will shut down from June 7, Tencent said, citing a change of business strategy.
The company said on its official WeChat account that the decision to shut down the six-year-old platform, where hosts could live-stream themselves playing games in a model similar to Amazon's Twitch, was made because of "changes to its business development strategy". It did not elaborate.
From Thursday, Tencent said it would stop new user registration on Penguin Esports. On June 7, the app will be removed from app stores and its servers will stop operating.
China’s competition authorities last year blocked the merger of the market's top two players Huya and DouYu that Tencent had substantial stakes in. Tencent planned to move its Penguin Esports brand under the combined entity.
Tencent continues to invest in areas like e-sports but regulators have also tightened gaming regulations in China to protect addiction among younger users, including cutting down the amount of time kids under 18 can play online and freezing approvals of new titles.
