ByteDance plans to “restructure” its gaming business; sources say ByteDance will wind down its Nuverse gaming brand and retreat from mainstream video games
TikTok maker ByteDance is set to internally announce on Monday the winding down of its Nuverse gaming brand and full retreat …
The move also follows the closure of a Shanghai game-development studio, making the Nuverse wind-down a broader retrenchment rather than an isolated product decision. Subsequent coverage of efforts to find buyers for Nuverse indicates the business was being positioned for exit.
First-order effects
Nuverse’s mainstream game-development and publishing effort is set to be wound down, narrowing ByteDance’s operating presence in video games.
Employees, studios and unreleased-game plans tied to the unit face restructuring as ByteDance stops pursuing the business as a mainstream growth area.
Second-order effects
A full retreat makes Nuverse’s studios, game rights and other operating assets potential transaction or transition targets, rather than resources for ByteDance’s internal gaming expansion.
ByteDance’s earlier acquisition-led games strategy loses strategic weight, limiting its ability to use owned studios and publishing operations to build a standalone games business.
Third-order effects
The episode points to a tougher bar for large consumer-internet companies attempting to build game businesses through hiring and acquisitions: owning distribution does not by itself establish durable game-development or publishing traction.
If similar retrenchments persist, gaming consolidation may increasingly occur through asset sales and studio transfers after diversified platforms abandon in-house expansion efforts.
The trend: This is part of a broader retrenchment trend in which consumer-platform companies narrow capital-intensive gaming bets when their acquired and internally built operations fail to become core businesses.
ByteDance basically spent close to 10b usd to find out. (And since others have questioned the math: 4b for Moonton, 3B for Pico VR maker, Nuverse spent a ton marketing games especially Marvel Snap and internal studio efforts gets you close).
Wow, Reuters says TikTok owner Bytedance plans to shut down its main gaming unit Nuverse. They literally invested billions of US dollars in gaming in the past few years. I wonder what will happen to Pico VR.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that ByteDance (Tiktok) will announce winding down of its Nuverse Business on monday. They will look for ways to divest from already-released titles such as Marvel Snap. Hundreds of people will be affected. https://www.reuters.com/...…
The bomb you guys been waiting for: BYTEDANCE TO WIND DOWN ITS MAIN GAMING UNIT NUVERSE, TO ANNOUNCE PLAN TO EMPLOYEES ON MONDAY - SOURCES BYTEDANCE TO TELL EMPLOYEES TO STOP WORKING ON YET TO BE RELEASED GAMES, WILL LOOK FOR WAYS TO DIVEST FROM LAUNCHED TITLES - SOURCES
BYTEDANCE TO DISMANTLE ITS GAMING UNIT NUVERSE ENTIRELY Not only ByteDance is selling moonton but they are exiting the entire Video Game Market altogether. moving forward the company behind TikTok would no longer be a company that works on video games anymore. Wow