China’s No 2 short video app operator Kuaishou shuts down gaming project in Beijing in restructuring move

Kuaishou Technology, operator of China’s No 2 short video platform, has downsized its video gaming operation, according to a local media report, several months after rival ByteDance laid off hundreds of people as it retreated from the industry.

One of Kuaishou’s video gaming projects in Beijing was disbanded and shut down in March after the new game it was developing failed to pass certain internal tests, according to a report on Monday by Chinese media outlet CoreEsports.

Around 30 employees were laid off, while a few like Beijing project head Lin Yancheng were transferred to other Kuaishou units, the report said. Kuaishou still runs a number of video gaming operations in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong provincial capital Guangzhou and Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province.

The pullback by Kuaishou reflects stagnating growth in the domestic video gaming sector, which has seen a wave of cost-cutting and lay-offs amid economic headwinds and regulatory pressure.