New CEO Appointed at Perfect World After Restructure

Chinese gaming giant Perfect World, known for titles like Persona 5: The Phantom X and One Punch Man: World, is undergoing a major leadership change. Following significant layoffs affecting over a thousand employees and disappointing 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 the new CEO. This transition signals a strategic shift for the company as it aims to overcome recent challenges.

Perfect World's Recent Struggles

The company's recent performance has been marked by substantial job cuts and declining revenue from existing games. Even the highly anticipated One Punch Man: World underperformed in international beta testing and has remained stagnant since April, with no updates on major app stores.

Perfect World anticipates a substantial financial loss in the first half of 2024, projecting a net loss of 160-200 million yuan, a stark contrast to last year's 379 million yuan profit. The gaming division is expected to bear the brunt of this loss, with a projected net loss of 140-180 million yuan. Further compounding the situation, the middle office team has been significantly downsized.

Despite these setbacks, 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 anticipated to reignite player interest and potentially improve financial performance.

Furthermore, Perfect World's newly announced game, Neverness to Everness, has generated considerable pre-registration interest. While not expected to launch until 2025 at the earliest, the nearly three million pre-registrations in a single week indicate strong player anticipation for this urban-themed open-world RPG.

The success of Perfect World's turnaround strategy under its new leadership remains to be seen. The coming months will be crucial as the company focuses on key initiatives, streamlines operations, and works to restore its financial position.

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