BYTEDANCE plans to install a new chief at subsidiary Shanghai Moonton Technology, after abandoning a plan to sell the most valuable gaming asset it had acquired to challenge Tencent Holdings.
The new leader at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang maker will be Yunfan Zhang, who’s taking over from co-founder and chief executive officer Justin Yuan, according to people familiar with the matter.
ByteDance’s management decided on a change in strategy rather than to sell off the studio it acquired at a US$4 billion valuation just three years ago, as it works to streamline and reorganise its games division, the people said.
ByteDance had considered selling Moonton as part of a wider cost-cutting push in gaming, where it failed to gain traction against incumbents Tencent and NetEase The company has sought to refocus on core products like TikTok and Chinese twin Douyin, both of which are growing rapidly both in advertising revenue and into adjacent areas like ecommerce.
Having slashed hundreds of game development jobs and discontinued several projects, the Beijing-based company in March appointed human resources chief Hua Wei to run its sharply reduced gaming division.
Prior to ByteDance, Zhang served at Perfect World, the China publisher for Valve’s Dota 2 and Steam – in various roles, including as chief operating officer. It’s unclear if Yuan will stay at the company he started a decade ago and elevated to upstage his former employer Tencent in the battle-arena genre in South-east Asian markets.
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A Moonton spokesperson declined to comment on the personnel change, which was earlier reported by Chinese gaming blog Core Esports. A ByteDance spokesperson didn’t respond to a request seeking comment.
ByteDance has left Moonton to operate in near-autonomy since the 2021 takeover, but Zhang’s appointment could signal a strategic shift as the studio struggles to come up with its next breakout hit. Its cash cow Mobile Legends was approved for a China debut in April last year, but the domestic market has been long dominated by Tencent’s Honor of Kings.
ByteDance will focus on user-generated gaming content for its remaining gaming business, Bloomberg reported in March, as that fits more closely with the company’s platform-driven strategy. BLOOMBERG
