Qualcomm is partnering with Tencent over gaming devices and 5G

You can expect future Tencent games to be highly optimized for Snapdragon-powered flagship Android smartphones.

What you need to know

• Qualcomm and Tencent have announced that they will be working together on both games and a 5G-enabled smartphone.
• Tencent will optimize its future games for Android phones powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite gaming chipsets.
• Tencent is reportedly working on a cloud-based game streaming service as well.

Qualcomm and Tencent announced on Monday that they will be working together on a few projects, including a Tencent-backed 5G gaming smartphone. Qualcomm is the largest mobile chipmaker in the world, while Tencent happens to be the largest mobile software company in China.

As part of the agreement between the two companies, upcoming mobile games from Tencent will be "optimized" for Android smartphones running on Qualcomm's Elite Gaming chips. Currently, Qualcomm offers only two Elite Gaming chipsets: Snapdragon 855 and Snapdragon 855 Plus. However, the mid-range Snapdragon 730 and 730G chipsets also pack a few Elite Gaming features. Tencent may also tweak game titles for U.S. laptops that feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors and connect to the internet via 5G instead of Wi-Fi.

Furthermore, Tencent and Qualcomm will be jointly developing a 5G variant of a Tencent-backed gaming smartphone. It wouldn't be the first time that the two companies will be working together on a gaming phone. The ASUS ROG Phone II, which was unveiled last week, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset and was developed by the Taiwanese brand in partnership with Tencent. As per Reuters, the 5G version of the gaming smartphone that is being jointly developed by the two companies will help bolster Tencent's plans of launching a game streaming service.

Since 5G devices can offer much faster connection speeds compared to their 4G counterparts, Tencent will be able to take advantage of the next generation of connectivity and stream "more complex" games. Similar to Microsoft's Azure, Tencent is reportedly working on a cloud-based back-end service called Instant Play for game developers.

Qualcomm China Chairman Frank Meng said in a statement:

Mobile gaming, an important 5G use case, will soon take advantage of the next generation of connectivity. Faster speeds, more bandwidth, and cutting edge ultra-low latency will support real-time, multi-player and immersive gaming experience.

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