Report that ByteDance, which operates TikTok, will withdraw from the gaming business

It has been reported that ByteDance, which operates TikTok, plans to abolish its game brand ``Nuverse'' and withdraw from its main business, the game business. Although ByteDance has not confirmed the details, it has confirmed that it has decided to reorganize its gaming business.

ByteDance says to restructure Nuverse in retreat from gaming business | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/bytedance-wind-down-gaming-brand-nuverse-full-retreat-gaming-sources-2023-11-27/

ByteDance Fires Hundreds, Slashes Games Arm in Major Retreat - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-27/bytedance-is-said-to-shut-main-gaming-arm-in-business-retreat

Nuverse is a gaming division launched by ByteDance in 2019, and is seen as a brand to compete with rival company Tencent. Nuverse was officially positioned as one of ByteDance's six business divisions in 2021 when ByteDance underwent a wide-ranging restructuring of its business. Also in the same year, it acquired outside studios such as C4Games.

However, although Nuverse's `` MARVEL SNAP '' gained cult popularity, it was not a commercial hit, and games such as ``Earth: Revival'' and ``Crystal of Atlan'' were not able to break Tencent's stronghold. did.

According to people involved, ByteDance has already laid off hundreds of people and is also considering selling Shanghai Moonton Technology, a gaming company it acquired for $4 billion (about 600 billion yen) in 2021. In 2022, the company will shift its focus to core businesses such as short videos such as TikTok and e-commerce, close its in-house game studio, and reduce development positions. In November 2023, Pico , the VR (virtual reality) division, will also have almost a quarter of its employees reduced.

A ByteDance spokesperson said: 'We regularly review our business and make adjustments to focus on long-term strategic growth areas. Following our recent review, we are restructuring our gaming business. We have made the difficult decision to make this decision,'' and announced that we will be reviewing our game business.

ByteDance says that the review of its game business will not affect other businesses such as TikTok.