One of ByteDance’s game development studios has apparently been shut down. ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok. ByteDance acquired the core team behind 101 Studio in 2019, and this move was “regarded as setting the framework to challenge Tencent Holdings’ dominance in mobile gaming.” The 101 Studio in Shanghai, which ByteDance had purchased three years earlier, has been closed, according to news from the ANI news agency. The quoted source implies that there are various explanations for why it has made this decision.
It is alleged that the company’s game production studio wasn’t making much money and that its performance wasn’t up to par. According to Nikkei Asia, “TikTok founder ByteDance is abandoning one of its primary gaming studios due to its dismal performance.”
One of ByteDance’s most well-known and effective businesses, TikTok, has attracted a lot of attention over the past two years. The software allows users to express themselves by creating and sharing quick videos. The concept of creating quick videos and having editing capabilities were favorably received. Following this, Instagram soon unveiled Reels, a new area.
When TikTok was prohibited in India roughly two years ago, Reels was introduced to allow TikTok users another way to share enjoyable yet dramatic short movies. Reels, an Instagram platform for short videos, expanded its duration limit to give viewers more choices.
According to the article, the ByteDance studio employs about 300 people, although not all of them have been let off. According to the mentioned source, several of them have been transferred to different ByteDance verticals. TikTok is rumored to be considering entering the gaming market, which may be one of the factors why ByteDance is closing its studio. The tool for creating short videos has already been seen testing gaming in the vicinity of Vietnam.
The sole game that is currently accessible to users on TikTok is “Disco Loco 3D” by Zynga, a dance and music challenge mini-game. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is probably also getting ready to enter the virtual reality (VR) market. According to Protocol, ByteDance plans to invest “loads of money” in VR-related content.
According to the sources, Pico, the Chinese manufacturer of VR headsets that ByteDance acquired last year, has more than 40 job advertisements online.
