{
  "id": 1462177,
  "title": "Alibaba sells gaming arm Lingxi Games as tech giant sharpens focus on AI and e-commerce",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/alibaba-sells-gaming-arm-lingxi-games-as-tech-giant-sharpens-focus-on",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-17T10:00:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3364287/alibaba-sells-gaming-arm-lingxi-games-tech-giant-sharpens-focus-ai-and-e-commerce"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Alibaba Group Holding has agreed to sell its gaming subsidiary, Lingxi Games, to Trustar Capital, as the Chinese tech giant redirects its focus towards e-commerce and artificial intelligence, according to an internal letter dated Monday. The letter, signed by Lingxi CEO Zhou Bingshu, stated that Lingxi would be entrusted to Trustar Capital as part of Alibaba's broader strategy to sharpen its core sectors. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale of the unit coincides with Alibaba's consolidation of resources into its e-commerce, cloud computing, and AI businesses. This follows other divestitures, such as exits from hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail and department store chain Intime Retail. Industry peers, like ByteDance, have also been making similar moves, with ByteDance selling its Shanghai-based gaming studio, Moonton, to Savvy Games Group in a deal valued over US$6 billion in March. Lingxi Games, established in 2019, grew from Alibaba's existing gaming operations and the 2017 acquisition of Ejoy, a studio led by former NetEase COO Zhan Zhonghui. The gaming arm operates several in-house development studios and gaming platforms, including Jiuyou and JiaoYiMao, and is known for titles such as Three Kingdoms Tactics and Ru Yuan. The deal values Lingxi at over US$1.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trustar, the private equity subsidiary of Citic Capital, is a major buyout platform in China with investments in McDonald's China and Energy Monster. Zhou Bingshu, Lingxi's CEO, expressed optimism in the letter, stating that the management team will continue to create engaging games and make the company agile and dynamic. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.",
  "summary": "Alibaba Group Holding has agreed to sell its wholly owned gaming business Lingxi Games to Trustar Capital as the Chinese technology giant pivots away from noncore sectors to prioritise e-commerce and artificial intelligence, according to an internal letter issued on Monday. “As part of Alibaba’s broader strategy to sharpen its focus, the group has decided to entrust Lingxi to Trustar Capital,”…",
  "key_points": [
    "Alibaba sells gaming arm Lingxi Games to Trustar Capital",
    "Deal values Lingxi at over US$1.5 billion",
    "Strategic shift towards e-commerce and AI"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "SCMP Tech",
        "title": "Alibaba sells gaming arm Lingxi Games as tech giant sharpens focus on AI and e-commerce",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/alibaba-sells-gaming-arm-lingxi-games-as-tech-giant-sharpens-focus-on-1466662",
        "published": "2026-08-17T10:00:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}