(Yicai) Feb. 6 -- Douyu International Holdings, which is backed by Tencent Holdings, has dismissed speculation that it plans to merge with Huya, another video game streaming platform backed by the Chinese tech giant.

Wuhan-based Douyu told Yicai yesterday that it has business ties with Huya, but no plans to merge with it. Huya declined to commented.

A proposed combination of Douyu and Huya in 2020 was quashed by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation over anti-monopoly concerns, as it would have strengthened Tencent’s dominance in the sector, stymying fair market competition and harming consumer interests.

That means it is no longer possible for Douyu and Huya to merge, Zhang Shule, a gaming sector analyst, told Yicai. The pair will continue to be entitled to copyright for e-game events, so Tencent will not give up on them, but will stop blindly relying on them, Zhang added.

Rumors about a planned merger started circulating online after Honor of Kings, a multiplayer online battle arena game developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group, announced on Jan. 13 that it would resume livestreaming on Douyin, the short-video platform under internet giant ByteDance Technology.

Tencent and ByteDance have been suing each other over copyright infringement for a long time, and Honor of Kings was banned from Douyin in 2019.

Huya and Douyu have been recently working together on several projects. The pair jointly held the Teamfight Tactics Open Championship yesterday and today. Moreover, Huya has been testing livestreaming showdowns with Douyu, according to a well-known livestreamer.

Douyu and Huya face much competition, including from Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili. Their respective revenues tumbled 33 percent and 24 percent to CNY1.2 billion and CNY1.5 billion (USD168.8 million and USD211 million) in the third quarter of 2023 from a year earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione