Following a series of mass layoffs at the Chinese company Perfect World, both the CEO and co-CEO have resigned. Known for games like Persona 5: The Phantom X and One Punch Man: World, the company is now set to enter a new phase under fresh leadership.
On July 22, Perfect World held a board meeting where changes in senior management were approved. As reported by the Chinese WeChat forum, in this meeting, Xiao Hong resigned as CEO of Perfect World but will stay with the company as a director just like Lu Xiaoyin who resigned as co-CEO.
Under the new leadership change, Gu Liming, previously Senior Vice President of Perfect World, was appointed as the new CEO. Gu, a Canadian born in 1968, has been with Perfect World since 2013, holding various leadership roles.
Perfect World had cut off over a thousand jobs last month in June
Before these changes, Perfect World underwent major layoffs, cutting over a thousand jobs in June 2024, which I covered in my layoff list article as well. This included several hundred in R&D and reduced middle office staff significantly.
With this change, the company is reorganizing, focusing on core projects, adjusting personnel, and centralizing resources to strengthen its competitive businesses. One of the projects is Neverness to Everness, an urban-themed open-world RPG that has been announced recently.
The article also noted that for the first half of the year, the company anticipates a net loss of $22 million to $28 million (160 million to 200 million yuan), compared to a profit of $52 million (379 million yuan) the previous year. Specifically, the game business is expected to take a net loss of $19 million to $25 million (140 million to 180 million yuan).
The loss was attributed to a natural decline in revenue from existing games, temporary costs from personnel optimization, and underperformance of new game releases. Notably and to my surprise, the company mentioned that One Punch Man: World did not meet expectations in overseas beta tests, contributing to the period’s disappointing performance.
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