UCWeb To Build Open Mobile Games Platform

UCWeb, Chinese provider of mobile Internet software technology and browser services, confirmed that the company has acquired 9game.cn, a mobile games platform, and it plans to build an open platform for mobile Internet games.

Weirdly, an insider from UCWeb revealed to local media that the privately-held company already acquired 9game.cn in 2009 and it has been one of UCWeb’s cash flow businesses. UCWeb hopes to promote its commercialization via mobile games and the mobile business is expected to become a core business of UCWeb in the future.

Yu Yongfu, chairman and chief executive officer of UCWeb, confirmed the news and said 9game.cn is indeed a business of UCWeb and it has been developeing well. Yu also disclosed that the mobile game industry is an important direction for the development of mobile Internet and UCWeb will be committed to the establishment of an open gaming platform. Prior to this, Yu claimed that UCWeb had become the second largest gaming platform in the Chinese mobile game sector, following Tencent.

So far, most of UCWeb’s revenue is from navigation and e-commerce advertising and a small part is from Internet value-added services such as games. Meanwhile, its mobile browser product is a market leader, which has 300 million users around the world. Its market share in China is over 50%, and it owns over 20% market share in India. This browser also boasts over 10% market share in six other countries.

Founded in October 2009, 9game.cn is a mobile games publishing platform in China. It provides services like game downloads, gaming information, and interactive communication to users.