Exclusive | China gaming crackdown: Baidu to lay off over 100 from gaming unit amid regulatory crackdown, heavy losses

Chinese online search engine Baidu is laying off at least 100 employees from its video games unit, as the company moves to trim losses amid Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on the sector, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

The Beijing-based company will significantly downsize its core games development team and terminate services to games developed by outside studios, two separate sources, who requested anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, told the South China Morning Post.

The decision was announced to some employees this week, the sources said.

The exact number of staff to be let go is unknown. Baidu declined to comment.

The move by the Nasdaq and Hong Kong-listed firm is the latest sign that Beijing’s crackdown on video gaming has started to take a toll on the industry. China restricts gaming time for teenagers under the age of 18 at a maximum of three hours per week, and the Chinese government has suspended new gaming licenses since the end of July.

Baidu, which has been eclipsed in recent years by fast-growing tech giants such as ByteDance and Meituan, reported a net loss of 16.6 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) for the latest quarter, after marking down investments of 18.9 billion yuan, according to financial result released last month.