ByteDance lays off hundreds of employees from video gaming vertical

Chinese conglomerate ByteDance has laid off hundreds of employees from its video gaming division, the media reported on Tuesday, as the government cracks down on the Internet and gaming industry with strict regulations.

The South China Morning Post reported that ByteDance, owner of short-form video app TikTok, is aggressively downsizing its video gaming unit, affecting hundreds of employees.

"The Beijing-based company, which only one year ago was pouring millions into its gaming operations, has stripped Shanghai-based Wushuang Studio of most of its staff through lay-offs and internal transfers, after the closure of 101 Studio in June," the report mentioned, citing sources.

ByteDance is also reportedly slashing jobs at Jiangnan Studio, its game development studio in Hangzhou district.

In June, ByteDance shut down a game development studio, laying off more than 100 employees.

Last month, China's largest video gaming and social media company Tencent trimmed 5,500 employees from its payroll in the second quarter amid a slowing economy.

Reports also surfaced that TikTok started sacking employees worldwide as part of "a much larger re-organisation effort".

Some employees based in Europe were informed in July that their jobs were at risk.

In a regulatory crackdown, the Chinese government has also curtailed the issuance of new game licences, according to the report.

Since last year, Chinese regulatory authorities have been cracking down harder on domestic tech giants to end their dominance in the internet sector.

The total revenue generated by Chinese video gaming companies and the number of gamers both nosedived in the first half of 2022 from a year ago.