San Francisco, Nov 27 (IANS): Bytedance, TikTok parent company, has started mass layoffs in its gaming division, and several Nuverse employees were awaiting their future, the media reported.

According to TechCrunch, after two years of tepid performance, the gaming department called Nuverse, is significantly scaling back its operations.

“We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas. Following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business,” a ByteDance spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Nuverse had around 3,000 people in 2021 and has remained at that employee figure over the past few years.

ByteDance acquired Shanghai-gaming studio Moonton Technology in a $4 billion deal.

It is best known for the mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang released in July 2016.

Reports also surfaced that ByteDance was exploring options to sell Moonton.

According to reports, ByteDance will unwind gaming projects under development and likely sell existing gaming titles at Nuverse.

Nuverse's best game is the online card game "Marvel Snap", which is developed by US studio Second Dinner.

Other titles are "One Piece: The Voyage" and "Crystal of Atland".