Perfect World Announces New CEO Following Layoffs And Resignations

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 underwhelming financial results, CEO Xiao Hong and co-CEO Lu Xiaoyin have resigned, according to a Game Gyroscope report on WeChat. 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 surprisingly 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, a sharp contrast to last year's 379 million yuan profit. The gaming division will bear the brunt of these losses, with a projected net loss of 140-180 million yuan.

Further compounding the difficulties, the middle office team has been drastically reduced from 150 employees to just a few 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 financial volatility; however, Version 4.2, launching August 6, 2024, is expected to boost engagement and potentially improve financial performance.

Perfect World's newly announced game, Neverness to Everness, has generated considerable pre-registration numbers. While revenue generation is still some time away (a 2025 launch is the earliest expectation), the nearly three million pre-registrations worldwide in just a week indicate strong player interest in this new urban-themed open-world RPG.

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 recover financially.

For more gaming news, see our other article on Wang Yue, the open-world ARPG nearing its testing phase.