Perfect World Taps New Leader Amid Executive Exodus

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 the Chinese WeChat platform. However, reports suggest they will remain 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 potential strategic shift for the company as it aims to recover from recent setbacks.

Perfect World's Recent Challenges

The company's recent performance has been marked by significant challenges. Extensive layoffs represent a major blow, coupled with declining revenue from existing games. Even One Punch Man: World, initially anticipated as a major success, underperformed in international beta testing and has remained curiously inactive on app stores 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 impact on the game division is particularly severe, with a projected net loss of 140-180 million yuan. Further compounding the situation, the middle office team has been significantly reduced in size.

Despite these difficulties, there are glimmers of hope. The upcoming update for Tower of Fantasy, Hotta Studio's open-world gacha RPG, could provide a much-needed boost. Version 4.2, launching August 6th, 2024, is expected to reignite player interest and potentially improve financial performance.

Additionally, the newly announced game, Neverness to Everness, has generated considerable pre-registration interest. While not expected to launch until at least 2025, the nearly three million pre-registrations within a week indicate significant potential.

The success of Perfect World's turnaround hinges on the new management team's ability to navigate these challenges. The coming months will be crucial as they implement strategic initiatives, streamline operations, and strive to restore financial stability.

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