Recently, a news that "the entire Shanghai game industry is laying off employees" has been circulated on the Internet. Red Star Capital Bureau noted that the network news said that NetEase (09999. Well-known game companies such as HK), Lilith, and IGG (00799.HK) have cut down self-developed projects or laid off employees.
On February 22, Red Star Capital learned from Lilith Game insiders that Lilith had indeed cut the two-dimensional game project "Apocalypse of Eden", and the project team had already transferred employees internally. It is understood that the "Apocalypse of Eden" is still in the state of development and has not yet been officially launched. The above-mentioned insider mentioned that the reason for the cut may be related to the version number.
Another insider from NetEase Games told Red Star Capital Bureau that as early as August 2021, after the wind of tightening the version number came out, some of the research projects of NetEase Games have been suspended, the project teams in Hangzhou and Guangzhou have been involved, most of the employees have transferred to other project groups, and a small number of employees have chosen to jump jobs or leave. The insider said: "The company made an overall assessment of these projects and chose to stop losses in a timely manner. ”
Internal employees of IGG Games confirmed the layoffs to Red Star Capital. The employee said: "The departments in Shanghai and Fuzhou have laid off some people, and the projects going to sea have not been affected." The employee also mentioned: "It is normal for the current game circle to lay off employees. ”
Red Star Capital found that in January this year, Perfect World (002624. SZ) has disclosed: "In 2021, the company will streamline and optimize the game team, adjusting some teams that do not fit the company's future general direction and tone." Hundreds of people have been optimized in the fourth quarter of last year. Perfect World said that the optimization is still continuing, and it is likely to decline further in the future, and it is expected that the optimization will reduce hundreds to 1,000 people, including research and development and related departments.
In addition to Perfect World, TapTap's parent company Heartbeat Network was also exposed at the end of January. According to the surging news, Huang Yimeng, CEO of Heartbeat, admitted on social media that there are indeed team adjustments, increasing or decreasing according to actual business needs, but "there is no so-called one-size-fits-all".
Not long ago, Baidu (09888. HK) also reported a wave of layoffs in the game division. According to the Economic Observer Network, it was learned from several people close to Baidu Games that Baidu Games has not yet completely laid off employees, and employees have not received formal notices, but have been interviewed in installments.
Just on February 21, the Hang Seng Technology Index of Hong Kong stocks continued to fall, including Heartbeat Company (02400. HK), Kuaishou (01024. HK), Bilibili (09626. HK), Tencent (00700. A number of game stocks, including HK), NetEase, were frustrated. According to Interface News, the setback in the game stock may be related to a rumor - the news circulating on multiple social platforms said that there will be no new game version number in 2022.
It is worth mentioning that NetEase, Lilith, IGG game company insiders have said that in the future, overseas business will be the main development direction of domestic game companies.
Red Star Capital Bureau noted that in November last year, the Ministry of Commerce, the Central Propaganda Department and other 17 departments jointly issued the "Notice on Several Measures to Support the High-quality Development of National Cultural Export Bases" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which mentioned that excellent traditional cultural products, cultural and creative products and digital cultural products such as film and television dramas and games were encouraged to "go global".
According to Sensor Tower's "January 2022 China Mobile Game Publisher Global Revenue Ranking", the data shows that 34 Chinese manufacturers were shortlisted in the global mobile game publisher revenue list TOP100 in January, attracting a total of 2.26 billion US dollars, accounting for nearly 39% of the world's TOP100 mobile game publisher revenue.
Red Star News reporter Yu Yao Qiang Ya Milling
Edited by Yu Dongmei
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