Could Microsoft's involvement in TikTok help Xbox? 🤔

Tiktok Xbox Source: Windows Central

Microsoft recently revealed that it is in talks to buy a huge portion of TikTok's western operations, notably TikTok U.Southward., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance recently fell afoul of the Trump administration as function of on-going merchandise conflicts between the 2 superpowers. Concerns over how TikTok'due south user data could exist accessed by the Chinese dictatorial regime spearheaded the spat, which has effectively led to Microsoft's involvement, a trusted tech vendor of the U.South. military and government.

Microsoft stated on its official blog that TikTok would go along to operate in a largely autonomous manner, only Microsoft would come in to handle the data in accord with U.Southward. regulations and enhance TikTok's privacy provisions.

Related: Why Microsoft should purchase Tiktok

My initial reaction to the buy (which is likely to run in the tens of billions) was bemusement. Microsoft has an uncanny ability to run "fun" social platforms into the ground, with a headstart with Skype utterly squandered. At the same time, Discord came in and obliterated the platform, and of grade, Mixer, which failed to go on step with its rivals.

While the glacial step of Skype's development and features is undoubtedly a worthy example of how Microsoft can fail to understand consumers, the fact ByteDance would largely continue to handle TikTok's development gives the network a fighting take chances of surviving Microsoft's dusty corporatism.

With that in mind, could Microsoft employ TikTok to leapfrog Amazon with Twitch and Google with YouTube and Stadia as a vehicle for Xbox'due south social potential? Let's explore a bit.

Twitch is tiny compared to TikTok

Source: TikTok

Information technology's not viable to compare Mixer, Twitch, and video game streaming to TikTok. Equally the frontrunner in video game streaming, Twitch is still merely a tiny fraction of TikTok's daily active users, which stand at roughly 5 million daily active users vs. l 1000000 globally. TikTok is a genuinely gargantuan platform, vastly outstripping many of its contemporaries in the space with rapid-cutting content and high-book video ads that make ByteDance (and soon, Microsoft) a ton of cash.

TikTok is a truly gargantuan platform.

If (most likely when) Microsoft closes the deal with ByteDance, Microsoft will get a social media powerhouse overnight, with LinkedIn on the productivity side and TikTok on the "fun" side, targeting younger audiences and general consumers. Y'all know, like gaming does.

That said, TikTok is primarily a platform where people share existent-life videos. There isn't a ton of gaming content on there. Microsoft doesn't fifty-fifty accept many official accounts on there (all the same), with domain squatters taking their popular handles. TikTok doesn't have a alive streaming component either. Both of these aspects are possible areas of unexplored potential, particularly when yous consider how TikTok could help Xbox every bit a brand.

Microsoft'due south lack of social platform could hurt Xbox

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Fundamental

Microsoft is on a mission to reach ii billion gamers the world over and hopes to use improved access every bit the vehicle upon which to accomplish that. Project xCloud and Xbox Game Pass volition bring Microsoft's portfolio to tens of millions of Android devices in September, although whether or not the broader consumer market has an appetite for this remains wholly to be seen.

TikTok could repair Microsoft's social blindspot here.

Whether game streaming takes off or non isn't the signal hither. Even on the off gamble that it does, Microsoft needs to position itself to win this market place segment alee of some of its large tech company rivals, notably Amazon with Twitch, Google with YouTube, and Tencent with WeChat, QZone, and QQ. The exception in this list of companies with game streaming aspirations is Microsoft, which doesn't accept a compatible social graph to tie Project xCloud into. LinkedIn is very piece of work-oriented, Skype as a platform has slid into obscurity, and we all know what happened to Mixer.

TikTok could repair Microsoft's social blindspot hither, giving it a vast userbase upon which it can push game streaming. Google has already advertised how it plans to let users enter a game direct from YouTube videos via Google Stadia. In that location'due south no reason to think Microsoft couldn't do the same with Halo Infinite and TikTok, promoting the game with ads on the service, while giving users the option to instantly spring into a free trial of Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate cloud streaming on the very device they were using to scan cat memes. There'south no reason Microsoft couldn't also leverage the engineering it retained from its Mixer acquisition to bring live streaming to TikTok as well, a characteristic clearly absent from the platform.

Intriguing potential

While I initially thought Microsoft'south purchase of TikTok was an odd move, if they left ByteDance alone to handle the development and curation of the platform at large, in that location'southward no reason to recall they could screw up TikTok in the same way they screwed up Skype. A lighter touch when it comes to integrated Microsoft's other platforms could help elevate Xbox without impeding TikTok, which is an heady prospect.

What practice you lot think about Microsoft picking up TikTok? Let united states know in the comments.

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