Asia
ByteDance Restructures Gaming Business, Emphasizes Stability
On March 14th, according to Chinese media outlet Jiemian News, ByteDance announced through an internal letter that after strategic positioning adjustments, its gaming business will return to the incubation stage. The core of the next phase is to patiently manage stable operations and continue to explore with a mission and vision in a manner consistent with industry development laws.
In terms of organizational structure, ByteDance’s human resources head, Hua Wei, will serve as the head of the gaming business, managing UGC (user-generated content), Moonton, and Nuverse. The former head of Nuverse, Yan Shou, will be transferred to the company’s finance department. UGC is a newly established secondary department, with Luo Ji serving as the department head, reporting to Hua Wei. The former heads of the Block project, Dai Junyi, and the Cell team, Sky, will report to Luo Ji. The former head of ONE distribution studio, Hector, will continue to be responsible for Nuverse’s agency products, with former game technology head Jeffrey and former global business head Rachel Lin reporting to Hector. Hector also reports to Hua Wei.
ONE distribution studio is a studio established by Nuverse in 2022 after integrating domestic and foreign businesses. The heads of Oasis Studio, Wang Kuiwu, and Youai Division, Hu Bing, both report to Hua Wei. This studio evolved from ByteDance’s early “Oasis Plan”, focusing on RPG (role-playing games), strategy, shooting, European and American casual, and card sports games.
The new structural adjustment signifies the end of the “Yan Shou era” in ByteDance’s gaming business.
Yan Shou joined ByteDance’s strategic investment department from Tencent in 2015 and became the head of the business when ByteDance entered the gaming business in 2019. He later served as the head of Nuverse. Since then, the entire ByteDance’s self-developed and agency gaming business has been managed by Yan Shou.
The newly appointed head of the gaming business, Hua Wei, joined ByteDance in 2014, was in charge of investment business, later took on human resource management work, and was responsible for the company’s organization and culture building.
Established in 2019, Nuverse is ByteDance’s game development and distribution business brand. Like ByteDance’s emphasis on globalization, Nuverse also started the internationalization process early. Its overseas releases “RO Wonderland Legend: The Birth of a New Generation” and the Marvel IP card mobile game “MARVEL SNAP” have achieved some success, with “MARVEL SNAP” even winning the 2022 TGA Best Mobile Game Award.
In the domestic market, “Crystal Core”, launched by Nuverse in July last year, is considered its first “hit” self-developed game. Qimai data shows that “Crystal Core” achieved nearly 70 million yuan in revenue on the iOS platform in the first week of its launch and dominated the top ten best-selling list of the App Store for nearly a month.
Unexpectedly, four months later, Nuverse began a large-scale business contraction: seeking to divest games that had been launched and performed well while ensuring operations; for projects that have not yet been launched, except for a few innovative projects and related technical projects, all were shut down.
According to a person close to ByteDance, the contraction action was a decision made after Yan Shou and ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo had discussed it for a long time. Liang Rubo believes that although the gaming business has achieved some success, it has been pursuing “big and complete” for the past few years, with unfocused projects and scattered resources. It should invest energy and resources into more basic, more innovative, and more imaginative projects.
Moonton is a game company that ByteDance acquired for about 4 billion US dollars. After Nuverse’s significant contraction, there were rumors that ByteDance was seeking to sell Moonton Technology for no less than 5 billion US dollars and hired Goldman Sachs as a financial advisor to help find and contact potential buyers.
An insider from Moonton told Jiemian News that Moonton is currently not for sale and is still a wholly-owned subsidiary of ByteDance. Even with the structural adjustments, Moonton still maintains independent operations, and its business has not been affected.
Source: Niko News / pandaily.com
The post ByteDance Restructures Gaming Business, Emphasizes Stability appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
2 RAIDS NET 10 CHINESE, 26 PINOYS FOR ILLEGAL GAMES, ONLINE SCAMS
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) today said 10 Chinese nationals and 26 Filipinos have been arrested in two separate operations against illegal gaming operations and online scams in Laguna and Parañaque City since Tuesday.
The first operation in Biñan, Laguna on Tuesday, May 1, resulted in the arrest of 16 people who were running an illegal online raffle on Facebook. The raiders are from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) and the PAGCOR security group.
The suspects, which run the FB Page Lucky Dream 4, were caught red-handed in their office located inside a subdivision while livestreaming their 50th raffle event.
Earlier today, May 2, another group of suspects that included 10 Chinese nationals were arrested by joint elements of the CIDG-NCR and PAGCOR inside a house in Multinational Village, Parañaque for violation of the Anti Trafficking in Persons Act (RA 9208), Alien Registration Act (RA 562) and Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175).
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said the arrests are part of the state gaming agency’s intensified campaign against illegal online gambling and other illicit activities through strengthened collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
“We have been receiving reports of illegal online activities including those in social media platforms. As the country’s gaming regulator, it is our duty to protect the public – especially the youth — from these illegal online gambling sites,” he said.
PAGCOR Senior Vice President for Security Cluster Raul Villanueva said Lucky Dream 4, which has 111,000 followers on Facebook, was conducting live online raffles that offered second-hand modified motorcycles as prizes.
Villanueva said that in one raffle event, the group can sell an average of 40,000 to 50,000 tickets, with each ticket costing Php40.
“They have amassed over Php8 million from the time they started this illegal online operation because in one draw, they can sell as many as 50k tickets,” Villanueva said.
“Ang masaklap nito, karamihan sa miyembro ng grupong ito ay kabataan. Ang pinaka-matanda sa kanila ay 27 years old pa lang,” he said.
“The Lucky Dream 4 group is obviously engaged in an illegal online gaming activity. Negosyo na ang ginagawa nila. They need to secure a license from PAGCOR if they want to operate an online gaming platform,” Villanueva added.
In the Parañaque raid, Villanueva said authorities arrested seven male and three female Chinese nationals believed to have been part of a group that managed to escape from an earlier raid on a large gaming compound in Bamban, Tarlac last March.
Nine Filipino female workers were also rescued, while one 1 Filipino male serving as a bodyguard was arrested for possession of an undocumented .45 caliber pistol.
The raiders also confiscated around 75 mobile phones, 30 desktop computers, 50 laptops, assorted credit cards, two cars and one motorcycle along with assorted Chinese government documents.
Two vaults were also found in the house located at 18 Teheran Street inside the exclusive subdivision.
Police said the Chinese suspects were engaged in scamming activities such as love and cryptocurrency scams similar to the illegal activities in the Bamban, Tarlac compound which was raided last March.
The post 2 RAIDS NET 10 CHINESE, 26 PINOYS FOR ILLEGAL GAMES, ONLINE SCAMS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
Esports media platform TalkEsport raises $1 million in pre-series A funding round
TalkEsport, India’s leading esports media platform, announced today the successful closure of its pre-series A funding round, securing a significant investment of $1 million from Saswat Ventures. The substantial investment underscores TalkEsport’s robust growth trajectory and reaffirms its position as a pioneering force in the esports industry.
Founded in 2011, TalkEsport was set up with a vision to bring timely news and updates to gaming communities worldwide. As India’s oldest esports media platform, the company now caters to millions of gamers worldwide through its website and social media channels. TalkEsport plans to utilize the investment to scale up its core website while launching a highly interactive application for its audience and setting up a state-of-the-art production studio in Mumbai. Through it, the company will be launching exclusive content IPs focused on gaming and esports.
“We are delighted to welcome Saswat Ventures as our strategic partner,” exclaimed Deepak Ojha, Founder and CEO of TalkEsport. “Their belief in our vision and commitment to the esports ecosystem align seamlessly with our mission to redefine gaming experiences globally. With this investment, we will be scaling up our newsroom to cater to gaming communities worldwide while launching new content IPs targeted towards Indian and international audiences.”
Saswat Ventures, a family fund set up by Mr. BL Sharma, Principal, shares a vision of catapulting TalkEsport into a global phenomenon. Mr. Sharma has businesses across the country and expressed his confidence in TalkEsport’s potential to revolutionize esports media and connect with a vast audience of passionate gamers worldwide, “We believe in TalkEsport’s potential to become a global platform for esports enthusiasts worldwide.”
Trilochan Sharma, a seasoned expert in compliance matters, joins TalkEsport’s board as the Director of Compliance. His wealth of experience will ensure adherence to regulatory standards and bolster the company’s governance framework.
In addition to this pivotal investment, TalkEsport is proud to announce key developments that highlight its commitment to innovation and growth:
Production Studio in Mumbai
TalkEsport is excited to unveil its state-of-the-art production studio in Mumbai. This cutting-edge facility will serve as the epicenter for creating high-quality esports content, launching content IPs, live broadcasts, interviews, and immersive gaming experiences.
Pranav Nalawade, the Editor-in-chief of TalkEsport, said, “Our new era of esports coverage will begin not only with TalkEsport’s revolutionary approach in publishing news and covering esports events but also high-quality esports content courtesy of our new production studio. As one of the oldest esports media platforms, we have built an audience that relies on us for our history of trustworthy and reliable news. Now, we want to double up on this audience, reforming the way content around esports is consumed in India and abroad through podcasts, media, short-form content, and analytical stories – both in the form of video and text.”
Upcoming Mobile App Launch
Furthermore, TalkEsport is gearing up for the launch of its mobile application soon. This innovative app promises to redefine how gamers access news, engage with esports communities, and participate in live tournaments, all from the convenience of their mobile devices.
“Proceeds of the $1 million will be utilized in creating a robust team of gaming enthusiasts and expanding our global reach,” added Deepak. “This investment not only propels TalkEsport’s growth initiatives but also fuels our mission to provide unparalleled experiences for esports enthusiasts worldwide.”
Through its application, esports viewers will be able to get live coverage of esports tournaments, scores, and interviews. Additionally, they will be able to participate in community tournaments, thus providing an end-to-end immersive experience from the convenience of their mobile devices.
The media company continues to lead the charge in transforming the esports landscape, fostering community engagement, and pushing the boundaries of gaming innovation. The company’s dedication to excellence, coupled with strategic partnerships and visionary leadership, sets the stage for an exciting chapter in esports media.
The post Esports media platform TalkEsport raises $1 million in pre-series A funding round appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
Delasport Signs a Sports Deal with Philippines’ Leading Regulated Operator OKBET
Award-winning iGaming supplier in regulated markets Delasport has just signed a sports deal with Philippines’s number 1 operator OKBET.
The leading software developer will provide sports-services to their new partner, enhancing the experience of sports bettors in the Philippines even further.
“We’re proud to supply our services to such a strong partner as OKBET, and to an exciting and steadily growing market as the Philippines”, Delasport’s CEO Oren Cohen Shwartz comments on the agreement.
Regulated Philippines is marking a stable 5% year-to-year growth with the number of users expected to reach almost 6 million by 2029.
This is yet another deal for Delasport, with the global supplier’s expansion in regulated markets happening at full force.
Same goes for OKBET who have been holding the number one operator spot in iGaming in the Philippines for a long time now.
“I’m excited that OKBET and Delasports are joining forces to redefine the landscape of online sports gaming in the Philippines”, OKBET’s COO Wayne Thong also comments on the deal. “This partnership combines OKBET’s local market expertise with Delasports’ global industry leadership, creating new opportunities for innovation and customer satisfaction. OKBET and Delasports share a common vision for the future: a vibrant and dynamic platform that caters to the diverse interests of sports enthusiasts. By combining cutting-edge technology with a deep understanding of user preferences, this collaboration aims to set new standards for the industry.”
The post Delasport Signs a Sports Deal with Philippines’ Leading Regulated Operator OKBET appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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