ByteDance closes Shanghai games studio in retreat from industry dominated by Tencent, NetEase
- ByteDance disbanded its 101 Studio, letting about half of the 300-plus staffers go and offering internal transfers to others
- The Chinese owner of TikTok had bet on the studio to expand into sectors beyond its core short-video business
ByteDance has shut down a game development studio it acquired just three years ago, slashing more than a hundred jobs in a major setback for its quest to challenge Tencent Holdings in mobile gaming.
TikTok’s Chinese owner disbanded its 101 Studio in Shanghai this week, letting about half of the 300-plus staffers go and offering internal transfers to the rest, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing private information.
101 Studio had been one of a handful of key game-development houses that ByteDance had bet on to power its expansion into businesses beyond its core short-video business.
The closure marks a significant retreat from a once-booming gaming industry and the first time ByteDance has shut down a development unit altogether.
The Beijing-based firm, now labouring under severe content and licensing constraints, had previously curtailed some gaming projects. It has another gaming unit under its wing that was downsized during the months-long hiatus in new game approvals that began in the summer of 2021.
Having disrupted the world’s social media landscape with TikTok and its China sibling Douyin, ByteDance sought to follow the tried-and-true path of bigger rival Tencent by building out its presence in mobile gaming.