(Yicai) May 31 -- ByteDance has appointed Zhang Yunfan, former chief operating officer of Chinese game developer Perfect World, to head up its video gaming business.

Zhang, 45, will lead studios and technical departments under Nuverse and report to Hua Wei, ByteDance’s head of human resources, the Beijing-based TikTok owner told Yicai today.

Zhang became COO at Perfect World in 2015 after joining the creator of titles such as Neverwinter and Star Trek Online in 2013. Before that, he started several gaming websites and created China's first blogging product around 20 years ago when working for NetEase.

Media reports had said ByteDance was in talks with social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings and others to offload the business. But no sale was forthcoming due to disagreements over valuation and price, Yicai learned from industry insiders.

ByteDance set up Nuverse in 2019. It has published hits such as Crystal of Atlan, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and Marvel Snap, a card battle.

But last November, ByteDance announced a significant scaling back of Nuverse's operations, with ByteDance Chief Executive Liang Rubo saying its gaming business was too scattered and resources should be concentrated on more innovative projects. Its also announced layoffs targeting Nuverse.

This March, ByteDance shook up Nuverse's organizational structure, transferring former chief Yan Shou to the finance department, while HR head Hua was temporarily put in charge.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine