ByteDance enters 'second phase' of video gaming business, as new head of Nuverse unit says focus is on 'fun games'

Social media giant ByteDance has appointed a new head for its video gaming unit Nuverse, weeks after the Chinese tech unicorn sold its third developer studio to a Tencent Holdings-backed company.

Zhang will report to Hua Wei, who heads ByteDance's human resources department.

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The latest move at Nuverse reflects how ByteDance's expansion into video gaming, once considered a potential gold mine for the company, remains a cautionary tale. ByteDance was forced to cut its workforce and sell assets in a significant retreat from the industry amid economic headwinds and regulatory pressures.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a multiplayer online battle arena title developed and published by Moonton Technology, owned by the Nuverse unit of ByteDance. Photo: Handout alt=Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a multiplayer online battle arena title developed and published by Moonton Technology, owned by the Nuverse unit of ByteDance. Photo: Handout>

In an internal letter sent by Zhang and Hua on Friday, they pointed out that the video gaming business of ByteDance has "entered the second phase".

"Moving forward, we will adhere to long-term [goals] and be more patient in product development and operation," Zhang and Hua were quoted as saying in a report by Chinese media outlet GameLook.

In an apparent morale-boosting signal to the remaining ByteDance employees involved in the video gaming business, the report quoted Zhang and Hua as saying that the company is focused on creating "fun games", while management will continue to monitor daily active users and study the profitability of future titles.

Anime-style, action role-playing game Crystal of Atlan was developed and published by ByteDance unit Nuverse. Photo: ByteDance alt=Anime-style, action role-playing game Crystal of Atlan was developed and published by ByteDance unit Nuverse. Photo: ByteDance>

ByteDance in May agreed to sell C4Games studio, best-known for mobile title Red Alert Online, for 259 million yuan to a subsidiary of China Ruyi Holdings, a film and video game production outfit that is nearly 22 per cent-owned by Tencent.

In March, the South China Morning Post reported that Tencent's LightSpeed Studios absorbed a video game project in Shenzhen previously owned by ByteDance's Gravity Studio and an open-world project belonging to the TikTok owner's Jiangnan Studio in Hangzhou.

Last November, ByteDance told employees that it would shut down most game projects that had not been released online, and sell rights to at least two Nuverse titles - the anime-style, action role-playing game Crystal of Atlan and sci-fi survival game Earth: Revival.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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