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Tencent pushes back on games layoff reports

Tencent pushes back on games layoff reports

Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent has denied reporting that there were layoffs taking place within its games arm. 

Speaking to Yicai, a rep for the company said that rumours of a restructuring effort was not taking place at the company. They said that Tencent's Timi Studio Group of developers doesn't have any specific optimisation plans at the moments and in fact is hiring. 

This follows rumours that Tencent's Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) – aka its games arm – was not only cutting jobs but also cutting the number of studios that are under this umbrella. Reports said that the group's 13 developers were going to be merged down into just four with 20 per cent of staff 

While the company denies this specific reporting, it does appear that there have been some changes at the top of its IEG.

Vice president Zeng Yu has been replaced as the head of its technical line and its Platform and Content Group Technology and Content Platform by senior vice president Ma Xiaoyi. Yu is apparently retiring to spend more time with his family. There are another ten management changes, too, including reports that the GM of Timi's Level 1 studio and the exec producer of its mobile MOBA Honor of Kings Huang Lanxiao is stepping down. 


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.