An informant revealed to Leiphone that NetEase had successively downsized its entire strategic investment department (hereinafter referred to as the “investment department”) two weeks ago, with rumors suggesting that only Simon Zhu, President of NetEase Games’ Global Investment and Cooperation Department, remained in charge.

It is understood that this round of layoffs is massive and may involve hundreds of people.

The large-scale layoffs in the investment department this time may be related to NetEase‘s recent overseas investment failures. Informed sources disclosed that the losses incurred by NetEase‘s strategic investment department are very high, a situation which may have directly caused dissatisfaction among the top management at NetEase.

As early as August last year, NetEase‘s first console game studio Sakura Studio disbanded most of its employees after releasing ‘Final Fantasy Adventure: Visions of Mana’, and its official website is no longer accessible.

As one of the earliest studios at NetEase to adopt the overseas celebrity producer model, Sakura Studio was established in June 2020. The team lineup of this studio was luxurious, spanning Guangzhou and Tokyo, quickly advancing five projects, with three focusing on original console games and two being team-building outsourcing projects.

In September of the same year, SkyBox Labs under NetEase announced a layoff of 25 people; by the end of November 2024, NetEase jointly founded an overseas studio Worlds Untold with ‘Mass Effect’ series producer Mac Walters announced a suspension of operations, also stating that they are looking for ‘new partners’.

The large-scale closure of overseas studios seems to have set the stage for recent layoffs in NetEase‘s investment department. The future direction and approach towards NetEase‘s overseas investments remain unknown today.

SEE ALSO: NetEase’s Overseas Gaming Studio, Worlds Untold, Announces Suspension of Operations