TikTok owner ByteDance retreats from video gaming with cuts at main studio amid a stagnating market dominated by Tencent

ByteDance, the parent company of the popular app TikTok, is stepping back from the video game industry. They're cutting a lot of jobs at their main gaming division, Nuverse. Nuverse has told its staff that they will stop working on most of their games that aren't out yet. They're also planning to sell the rights to two of their games, an anime-style role-playing game and a sci-fi survival game, both of which were released earlier this year. A ByteDance spokesperson said that they often look at their business and make changes to focus on areas that will help them grow in the long term. After a recent review, they've decided to restructure their gaming business, which means some people will lose their jobs. The exact number of layoffs isn't known, but the gaming unit has nearly 2,000 employees. Some may be allowed to switch to other roles within ByteDance, and those who are laid off will receive compensation based on how long they've worked there, plus a bit more. nnChina's video gaming market is the largest in the world in terms of money made and the number of people who play games. But the market isn't growing like it used to because the Chinese government has put in place strict rules. For instance, young people can only play games for an hour on weekends and holidays, and new games have to pass a tough review process before they can be released and make money. Since a pause on giving out new game licenses ended, the number of new games approved each month is still low. ByteDance had invested heavily in gaming to reduce its reliance on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. They even bought a gaming company for a lot of money to get into the gaming market in Southeast Asia. But now, they're looking to sell that company. This move comes after ByteDance already cut jobs at two other gaming studios last year. One person from ByteDance said that after these cuts, they have three major gaming studios left. They used to offer higher salaries than their competitors, so these layoffs could affect salaries in the gaming industry and where people choose to work.