Improbable teams up with Tencent Cloud to help bring the next generation of multiplayer game development to China

Game developers face many risks – from game design and production speed to launch scale. SpatialOS is designed to reduce those risks. To meet the needs of an increasingly large and discerning audience, the future of games lies in rapid, iterative development, Improbable and Tencent Cloud today announced they have entered into a strategic partnership that extends Improbable’s involvement in the hugely important Chinese games market.

As one of China’s biggest cloud providers and a leading provider of cloud services to the games industry in China, Tencent Cloud will be providing underlying cloud for SpatialOS, Improbable’s cloud platform for multiplayer online games, in China. The deal will mark Improbable making major progress in providing access to the unique benefits of SpatialOS to developers building games for Chinese release.

Founded in 2012 by three Imperial College graduate’s Herman Narula, Peter Lipka, and Rob Whitehead, Improbable is a London, UK-based startup dedicated to providing technology for game makers to enable powerful virtual worlds and simulations designed to help solve previously intractable problems. In gaming and entertainment, this enables game makers to create richer, more immersive and persistent virtual worlds.

Tencent Cloud is also collaborating with Improbable to launch the Improbable /Tencent Cloud Developer Program, which will be worth a total program value of up to about $10 million (RMB 72m). This is aimed at incentivising and assisting developers anywhere in the world to build games for release in China, offering subsidised cloud resources and support to developers making games using SpatialOS on Tencent Cloud.

This is an exciting step forward for SpatialOS in China, which along with Netease’s investment in 2018 sees Improbable partnering with major players in the Chinese games industry.

“Ever since we opened our first China office in 2018, Improbable has been working, steadily and carefully, to build relationships with the most talented and influential players in the Chinese games industry. China is an amazing but challenging opportunity for our company, and we know that our ability to make the right partnerships is critical,” the company said in a press release.

Improbable added: “That’s why we are excited to announce a strategic partnership between our China business unit and Tencent Cloud, the leading Chinese gaming cloud service provider. Announced at the Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Summit in Chengdu last week, this partnership will see Tencent Cloud providing cloud resource to developers in China using Improbable’s SpatialOS platform for game development. Improbable and Tencent Cloud will also collaborate on the Improbable/Tencent Cloud Developer Program, for games makers building games for the Chinese market.”

Improbable’s SpatialOS is a flexible development platform including hosting and networking, online services and tools for multiplayer game development. Developers using SpatialOS can build real-time multiplayer games of any size and types, including FPS, RPG, strategy and simulation. SpatialOS can host both session-based games (i.e. games that begin and end during one play session), persistent worlds, and games that combine elements of both.

Qualifying projects will be eligible for Tencent Cloud credits and support from Improbable, taking the form of SpatialOS services, playtest support and premium technical support through the process of game development. Any developer making a game for release in China, using SpatialOS and running on Tencent Cloud, whether based in China or not, will be able to apply for the Developer Program, which will provide support and services up to the value of RMB 72 million (around $10 million). This program will help to address another significant risk of game development – economic risk – and help eligible game developers of any size to build games for the Chinese market.

Any developer interested in the Improbable/Tencent Cloud Developer Program should visit http://itc-developer-program.improbablechina.cn. Improbable is preparing for the launch of SpatialOS in China for general development in early 2020, but applications for the Developer Program are open now.

China is an exciting and important market for Improbable’s future, and for the future of the games industry as a whole. Here’s the leader of our China business unit, Peter Lipka, on this new partnership.

“Today’s partnership with Tencent Cloud marks a major milestone for us in China. Not only is China a market of vital strategic importance for Improbable, but I have personally witnessed the great quality of developers here. I am very excited to work closely with Tencent Cloud to help Chinese game developers bring their games to life using SpatialOS.”

Tencent Cloud is one of the leading cloud service providers in China. Owned by Tencent, Tencent Cloud is focused on developing cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for accelerating enterprise digital transformation and for building intelligent industries.