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Chinese streaming service PandaTV rumored to shut down soon

Chinese streaming service PandaTV appears to be on the verge of being no more, with rumors surfacing that the company is about to file for bankruptcy and shut down.

Ozzie Mejia

March 6, 2019 10:20 AM

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While the good times have been rolling for streaming services like Twitch and Mixer for the better part of the past decade, not every video game streaming service has thrived. In fact, one of China's streaming platforms looks to be on its way out, with a rumor on Wednesday suggesting that PandaTV is about to file for bankruptcy.

PandaTV is gonna file for bankruptcy, server close on 18th this month.
source: tencent tech news https://t.co/0P5w5l1PX3

— Ran (@ran_lpl) March 6, 2019

The rumor comes through Chinese tech news site Tech.qq.com (via Dot Esports), which suggests that PandaTV will file for bankruptcy and shut down its services on March 18. PandaTV has yet to comment on this article's accuracy.

It has been a rough past couple of months for PandaTV, with news floating around about the company treading dangerous financial waters over the past several months. The streaming service has seen its user base decline sharply over the past couple of years, dipping by over 75 percent to roughly 16.8 million users in January. It was also aiming to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, but the move never materialized, largely because of the aforementioned rumors of the company's financial troubles. Its few bright spots have largely revolved around viewership for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, with over five million concurrent viewers tuning in for the 2018 Gamescom Invitational. The service also hosted China's PandaTV PUBG League.

PandaTV first launched in 2015, founded by Wang Sicong, owner of esports organization Invictus Gaming and son of the nation's richest man. Sicong remained with the company until 2018, when he suddenly sold his shares and exited. Vice President Zhuang Minghao also departed from the company shortly thereafter. The service had secured streaming deals with a number of esports organizations, so what happens to those if the company goes belly up remains to be seen.

Shacknews will be on the lookout for any official statement from PandaTV, so stay tuned as this story develops.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?