Just two years after pouring millions into gaming investments, ByteDance is reversing course and looking to divest. Why the sudden change of strategy? What does this retreat mean for the company’s future in gaming?
It is both surprising and also entirely par for the course in 2023 that TikTok maker ByteDance is reportedly set to shutter its games division, Nuverse.
According to Reuters, the move is expected to impact “hundreds of employees” in a continuation of what has been a brutal year-long trend of industry-wide redundancies. TechCrunch reported that “mass layoffs” have already begun, as of November 27.
What is unexpected is how swiftly ByteDance is making this retreat after several years of aggressive investment in Nuverse and its subsidiaries.
Originally founded in 2019, Nuverse first stepped into the spotlight in early 2021 with a series of big swings. In March of that year, Nuverse acquired Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton Technologies. At the time, the Shanghai-based developer was said to be valued at an eye-popping $4B — a figure that has surely dwindled in the ensuing years as the industry has struggled under the weight of uncertain macroeconomic conditions and a frenzy of M&A at inflated prices.
