ByteDance Steps on the Gaming Dance Floor, Everyone makes room!

The Grand Gaming Plan

Remember that kid who used to show up to parties with big plans but never actually took any action? Yep, that’s ByteDance with its gaming ambitions! Two years have flashed by since TikTok’s Kingpin, casting an envious side-eye at the likes of Tencent and NetEase, decided to worm its way into the video game business.

New Threat or Just A Threat to Their Wallet?

ByteDance’s gaming ambitions had everyone on edge, so much that the Red Bull consumption in rival offices spiked to never-before-seen levels. The notion of ByteDance, famous for TikTok, extending its empire to include kick-ass video games, was as thrilling as it was terrifying. Yet here we are, two years down the line, and all we’ve got from them is a string of meh moments.

Expectation Vs Reality

The transformation of ByteDance from a social media giant to a potential gaming superstar was more hyped up than those Matrix remakes. However, like those remakes, it’s so far been inadequate in reality! Nevertheless, the gaming department has managed to become one of the company’s six core units, so… yay for the great corporate reshuffle, I suppose?

Hot Take:

ByteDance gaming: the tech world’s answer to when the prom queen decides she’s going to become the next Billie Eilish, invests in an expensive guitar, and still can’t play past ‘Smoke on the Water’. Maybe ByteDance should stick to what they know? TikToking? Remember, you’ve got to crawl before you can sprint down the Mario Kart track! Just a thought – ByteDance making TikTok-style short, viral games isn’t that bad of a concept!

Original article: https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/26/after-two-ambitious-years-tiktok-parent-bytedance-starts-mass-layoffs-in-gaming/