{"id":202888,"date":"2022-09-07T10:42:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T08:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=202888"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:28:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:28:35","slug":"tiktok-bytedance-reducing-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/tiktok-bytedance-reducing-games\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok owner ByteDance is reducing game divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ByteDance may have bitten off more than it can chew, and this realization is now <strong>impacting hundreds of employees in China<\/strong>. The TikTok parent company started investing in mobile game development a few months ago. However, it\u2019s had to reduce employees in two studios while doing some internal shuffling.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"TikTok\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-xl,f_auto\/p\/25d01a14-3485-42e7-a253-e5050ac51dd1\/3735921813\/tik-tok-icon.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">TikTok<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/tik-tok.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/tik-tok.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3191458\/china-gaming-crackdown-bytedance-cuts-hundreds-jobs-its-video-game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">South China Morning Post<\/a> was one of the first to notice the ByteDance issue. With the TikTok parent company based in China, Wushuang Studio in Shanghai and Jianang Studio in Hangzhou both saw game development come to a halt as jobs were cut. While the Shanghai headquarters remains largely unaffected, the focus will be on <strong>games already released <\/strong>to the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TikTok had already presented some in-app gamers to members after ByteDance invested in gaming. The initial audience was Vietnam with <strong>mini-games<\/strong> available for streaming. Nuverse appeared as a standalone company under the ByteDance umbrella, designed to solely manage the gaming component.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is ByteDance now shifting its attention away from game development? According to the South China Morning Post article, it has to do with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.in\/tech\/news\/china-approves-45-new-video-games-after-a-9-month-ban\/articleshow\/90797351.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">China cracking down on game developers<\/a>. The government has actively been limiting licenses for game development so it can ensure no one putting the country in a bad light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2022\/09\/TikTok-owner-ByteDance-is-reducing-game-divisions-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"TikTok owner ByteDance is reducing game divisions\" class=\"wp-image-202893\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, the Chinese government started censoring content in top games like <a href=\"https:\/\/genshin-impact.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Genshin Impact<\/a>. However, we\u2019ve also seen companies like <a href=\"https:\/\/snapchat.en.softonic.com\/articles\/snapchat-pauses-game-development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Snapchat decide it\u2019s no longer interested in the gaming industry<\/a>, choosing to focus on other avenues for revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the obvious solution is that social network and chat apps like TikTok should concentrate on what they were built to do. Instead of trying to harvest the rewards of other industries, just add new features that are connected to the app. Hopefully, Netflix learns this lesson soon, despite it increasing its games with hardly anyone playing them.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Netflix expands games with few playing\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/f_auto,t_article_cover_xl\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2022\/08\/Netflix-plans-to-expand-its-games-with-less-than-1-playing-them-2.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Netflix expands games with few playing<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/netflix.en.softonic.com\/articles\/netflix-1-percent-playing-games\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">READ MORE<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/netflix.en.softonic.com\/articles\/netflix-1-percent-playing-games\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ByteDance may have bitten off more than it can chew, and this realization is now impacting hundreds of employees in China. The TikTok parent company started investing in mobile game development a few months ago. However, it\u2019s had to reduce employees in two studios while doing some internal shuffling. South China Morning Post was one &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/tiktok-bytedance-reducing-games\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;TikTok owner ByteDance is reducing game divisions&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9205,"featured_media":202890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1018,1015],"tags":[2336,1617],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-202888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectiontik-tok","tag-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323250,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202888\/revisions\/323250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202888"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=202888"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=202888"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=202888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}