Tencent has plenty in store for online video fans

Yang Yang will play the lead role in Tencent's upcoming drama series The King's Avatar. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Fans of King of Glory, Tencent Holding Ltd's top-grossing mobile game, will have a new pastime in December－the game-adapted variety show Wang Zhe Chu Ji (The Ace Valor), where 20 Chinese players in parallel with the game characters will have "five versus five" battles.

The variety show will debut on the tech company's online video platform on Dec 15.

Chinese actresses Lin Chiling, Wang Lin, Angelababy and Jia Ling, and model Xi Mengyao will play the female heroes in King of Glory.

"The mobile game was a hit. We want its popularity to grow," Ma Yankun, vice-president of the Tencent Penguin Pictures, a subsidiary, said at a recent event in Beijing to announce the company's upcoming productions.

Ma says Tencent will drive the growing trend of following youth idols in China by continuing to run the singing contest Ming Ri Zhi Zi (The Coming One) and enrich the genres of talent shows.

Produce 101, a Chinese adaptation of a reality show, will be launched by Tencent to select 11 rising stars from 101 young women. The 11 winners are expected to form a Chinese girl band.

"We are eager to find girls who meet public expectations in China," says Ma. "They should be characterized by wisdom, ambition and strong personality."

Variety shows to find brilliant dancers and musicians will also be launched next year.

In April, Tencent released a Chinese animation film titled The King's Avatar, which was adapted from a popular online novel released on Qidian, a literature website in China.