It appears that Chinese gaming giant Perfect World has been hit with mass layoffs. The job cuts reportedly affected almost all of the company’s business units.
Perfect New World
News of the layoffs at Perfect World comes from Chinese newspaper The Paper. It is unclear how many people lost their jobs, but the cuts occurred in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.
According to anonymous sources, some R&D departments laid off hundreds of employees, while the middle office team was reduced from 150 people to dozens. It appears that the job cuts affected every division (video games, film, TV, animation, etc.) except esports.
In April, Perfect World released its 2023 financial report, announcing that its net profit fell 64.31% year-over-year to 491 million yuan ($67.5 million). Although video games remained the main source of the company’s revenue, accounting for 85.6% of the total, the division’s performance slightly decreased compared to 2022. At the same time, its Film and TV business unit saw a rapid growth of 222.46%.
This could be one of the main reasons for the new round of layoffs, which also affected teams working on Perfect New World and One Punch Man: World.
A Perfect World spokesperson told The Paper that “there were indeed personnel changes, and the company’s projects would be adjusted according to the actual situation.” However, the publisher noted that it didn’t cease the development of Perfect New World and One Punch Man: World despite the rumors.
In the area of video games, the Chinese company is best known for its MMORPG Perfect World and Tower Fantasy. In 2021, Embracer Group acquired its North American branch Perfect World Entertainment for $65 million. This division, known for publishing titles such as Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker, Neverwinter Online, and Star Trek Online, was later renamed Gearbox Publishing San Francisco and remained with the Swedish holding company even after the divestment of the Borderlands maker to Take-Two Interactive.