Huya's name means "tiger's tooth," and it bit hard on its first day: up 34 percent in May 2018. The Guangzhou company ran one of China's biggest sites for watching people play video games live. Fans sent streamers virtual gifts that cost real money, and Huya kept a share. Esports was booming, and phones made it easy to watch anywhere. That spring iQiyi and Bilibili both fell on their debuts. Huya did the opposite.

Spun Out of YY

Huya began inside YY, the Chinese live video company. In November 2014, YY announced that its game streaming service would run on its own as Huya Live. The bet was that watching games would grow as large as playing them. Huya signed popular streamers and broadcast esports tournaments. Most of its money came from viewers who bought virtual gifts for the players they liked.

Tencent Takes the Wheel

Huya priced at $12 a share, the top of its range, and began trading on the NYSE on May 11, 2018. It raised $180 million and closed its first day at $16.06. In April 2020 Tencent became Huya's largest shareholder and took control of the vote. A planned merger with rival DouYu fell apart in 2021. Streaming revenue then shrank for several years. As of 2025, Tencent owned about 67 percent of Huya and held 95 percent of the votes.

Cover: Tiger Ready to Spring, Eugène Delacroix. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a tiger ready to spring (Huya means tiger's tooth).