Restarting the game business, is Zhang Yiming's dream still broken?

ByteDance’s much-watched game business seems to be coming to an end.

On March 14, it suddenly sent an email to all employees stating that the game business would return to "incubation status." At the same time, think tank general Hua Wei also returned to the front line to take over UGC, Mu Tong and Zhaoxi Guangnian.

Should we say it or not, since ByteDance announced in November last year that it would divest its gaming business, the outside world has paid no less attention to this matter. However, no one expected that Zhang Yiming's originally shattered game dream seemed not to be completely shattered yet.

1 "Restart" the game business

On the evening of March 14, ByteDance issued an email to all employees stating: After undergoing strategic positioning adjustments, the game The business will return to the "incubation state". The core of the next stage is to patiently conduct stable operations and continue to explore with a mission and vision in a way that is in line with the development rules of the industry.

This is not a polite statement. In order to achieve the goal, ByteDance has also made corresponding adjustments to the organizational structure of the game business.

UGC, Mu Tong and Chao Xi Guangnian were handed over to the management of Hua Wei, the head of the company's HR department, while Yan Shuo, the former head of the game business, was transferred to the finance department.

On the other hand, some of its games under development have been taken over by Tencent, including the two-dimensional tactical competition project of Shenzhen Gravity Studio and the two-dimensional open world project of Jiangnan Studio. The two merged to form Saros Network Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. and merged into Tencent Photon Studio Group.

However, insiders on the Internet revealed that Saros is still operating independently and has no direct relationship with Photon. At present, the two companies involved have not responded to this matter.

As for Oasis Studio, which leads ByteDance’s first “hit” mobile game “Crystal Core”, it is said that it has been successfully sold, but the buyer is unknown. According to rumors, the game company FunPlus may take over, and the transfer is expected to be completed in 2025.

However, different from the initial rumors, Mu Tong, the game company Zhang Yiming previously acquired with a large sum of money, has not been sold, and Zhaoxi Guangnian has also retained some projects.

It can be seen that Bytedance’s game road may not be over yet.

2 There may be no peace talks with Tencent

In fact, in the previous competitive landscape, the competition between Tencent and ByteDance has always been a lose-lose situation. the taste of.

The former does not allow its games to be broadcast live on Douyin, thus losing huge traffic support. The latter's gaming business has been unable to find a breakthrough. Not only did it fail to successfully open up the market, it also prevented Douyin from earning Tencent's advertising fees.

Over time, ByteDance’s game business has become an inferior business line and can only be reduced to an abandonment.

With ByteDance announcing the suspension of its gaming business in November last year, the two parties seemed to have reached a settlement. Tencent released the rights to live broadcasts such as League of Legends and Honor of Kings, and then many well-known anchors naturally switched to Douyin.

Originally, this incident was concluded, and both sides gained something. But the harmony only lasted a few months, and the two giants had sparks in the gaming business.

Now, after Tencent announced with high profile that it would take over the studio, ByteDance immediately made the decision to restart the game business line.

On the surface, this is normal business behavior and the impact is limited. But from confrontation to concessions and then to confrontation, it may indicate that the two parties still have many conflicts and agreements in the gaming field that have not been resolved as scheduled.

3 Don’t give up completely

However, for the game business, ByteDance should not have reached the point of "restarting".

In the past two years, domestic games have been focusing on content and quality. ByteDance’s previous play style is not suitable for the next game market, and adjustments are an inevitable result.

Moreover, now that it has been able to maintain a superficial harmony with Tencent, it cannot make any progress in its own games, and there is a high probability that it will not dare to gamble anymore.

However, the game market is not small. Although the wave of "own announcements" before the Spring Festival caused Tencent to fall behind NetEase in one day, the subsequent issuance of more than 100 version numbers per month is enough to illustrate the prospects of the game industry.

Especially in the context of the recent rapid development of AI and its rapid commercialization, if we completely abandon the game business at this time, if the market suddenly rises in the future, it will be too late to enter the market again.

It can be seen that the game business that is now restarted will most likely retain some business and continue to explore. Sniffing business opportunities in the market is undoubtedly the right choice.

In addition, for ByteDance now, Tiktok is blocked in overseas markets, and the company also needs more potential growth points to support overall revenue.

Therefore, under the influence of multiple internal and external reasons, ByteDance’s “repentance” this time is not unexpected.

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