<article>Chinese e-commerce behemoth <a class="tinymce-colortext" style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/alibaba/">Alibaba</a> is ramping up its game with the latest acquisition of online gaming company Ejoy Technology.</article>

Chinese e-commerce behemoth <a class="tinymce-colortext" style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/alibaba/">Alibaba</a> is ramping up its game with the latest acquisition of online gaming company Ejoy Technology.
Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group &#8211; the new unit that was consolidated late last year through merging Alibaba’s sports, games, entertainment and digital content divisions &#8211; announced it had completed the acquisition of Ejoy, Chinese media reported.
Ejoy was founded in 2011 by Zhan Zhonghui, formerly COO of Nasdaq-listed <a class="tinymce-colortext" style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/netease/">NetEase Inc</a>, a major rival for Chinese Internet game developers. The company had bagged $26.22 million in equity funding in 2013, according to Crunchbase. Backers include <a class="tinymce-colortext" style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/idg-capital/">IDG Capital</a>.
The purchase of Ejoy is just another expansion move by the e-commerce giant in the gaming industry after it formed Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group and announced a RMB10 billion ($1.48 billion) fund to fortify its entertainment business.
It was followed by a March 2017 announcement to invest RMB1 billion in distributing mobile games along with a consortium of other investors including Mail.Ru Group, TFJoy, Efun and ONEMT.
Previously, Alibaba had acquired 9Games and invested $120 million in US-based Kabam.
Meanwhile, Ejoy’s founder Zhonghui and its product operation manager Chen Wei&#8217;an and leading developer Wu Yunyang will join Alibaba&#8217;s future gaming unit, according to China Daily.
The company will improve its ability in developing its own games and integrate research and development with operation, the newswire cited an internal letter by Zhonghui.
Interestingly, the group had twice affirmed it would not venture into the gaming business prior to 2010.
This sector in China is still posing a lot of opportunities for latecomers like Alibaba. The market size reached $11.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to expand to $16.39 billion this year, IIMedia Research Group has predicted.
Various reports show that NetEase and <a class="tinymce-colortext" style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/tencent/">Tencent</a> collectively hold 70 per cent market share. Online gaming related business accounted for about 47 per cent of Tencent’s total revenue last year, according to China Money Network.
Also read:
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/alibaba-enters-mobile-gaming-industry-with-145m-investment-68024/">Alibaba enters mobile gaming industry with $145m investment</a>

Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group announced it had completed the acquisition of Ejoy Technology.

Alibaba ramps up online game business, acquires Ejoy Technology

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Alibaba ramps up online game business, acquires Ejoy Technology

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