Perfect World, the Chinese gaming giant behind popular titles like Persona 5: The Phantom X and One Punch Man: World, is undergoing significant leadership changes. Following substantial layoffs affecting over a thousand employees and disappointing financial results, CEO Xiao Hong and co-CEO Lu Xiaoyin have resigned, according to a Game Gyroscope report on the Chinese WeChat platform. However, reports suggest they will remain on the board as directors.
Gu Liming, a long-serving Perfect World executive and former Senior Vice President, has been appointed as the new CEO. This leadership transition signals a strategic shift for the company, aiming for a fresh start and a new direction. The upcoming strategies under the new CEO will be closely watched.
Perfect World's Recent Challenges
The company's recent layoffs represent a major setback. Revenue from existing games has declined, and even the highly anticipated One Punch Man: World underperformed in international beta testing. The game has remained strangely inactive, with no updates on the App Store or Google Play since April.
Perfect World anticipates substantial financial losses in the first half of 2024, projecting a net loss of 160-200 million yuan, compared to a 379 million yuan profit in the previous year. The gaming division will be most severely impacted, with a projected net loss of 140-180 million yuan.
Further compounding the difficulties, the company's middle office team has been drastically reduced from 150 employees to a mere dozen. Despite these challenges, the upcoming update for Tower of Fantasy offers a glimmer of hope for a turnaround. Tower of Fantasy, Hotta Studio's ambitious open-world gacha RPG, has experienced fluctuating financial performance. Version 4.2, launching August 6, 2024, is expected to reinvigorate interest and potentially improve financial standing.
The newly announced game, Neverness to Everness, has generated considerable excitement. While revenue generation is still some time away (a 2025 launch at the earliest is anticipated), the nearly three million pre-registrations worldwide within a week indicate strong player interest.
The success of Perfect World's new management team in navigating these challenges remains to be seen. The coming months will be crucial as the company focuses on key initiatives, streamlines operations, and aims to restore its financial health.
For more gaming news, see our other article on Wang Yue, the open-world ARPG nearing its testing phase.
