Bilibili's Guangzhou Xinyuan Studio recently carried out a round of layoffs, resulting in approximately 220 employees being let go from the original team of 427.
About a month ago, Xinyuan Studio held an internal meeting where they announced their plans to discontinue two ongoing projects, namely the "Sword and Fairy" IP project and "Code Name W9." Meanwhile, the already-released project "Neon Echo" was put on hold, undergoing only regular maintenance until further notice.
Neon Echo
On June 6th, the official notice was issued, leading to the layoff of all members of the "Neon Echo" project, while "Code Name W9" retained fewer than 10 employees. The compensation plan was also announced on June 7th, which included severance pay equivalent to "N+1," with June 16th being the last working day. Additionally, unused workdays, weekends, and leave for marriage or childcare were converted into cash at a rate of 1-2 times the salary. The company also agreed to continue social security and housing fund contributions until the end of June. Laid-off employees are now free to leave their positions.
Interestingly, it was discovered that the "Neon Echo" project, which experienced a complete team layoff, had received a significant content update just two weeks prior. The decision to cut the project was reportedly due to the company's anticipation of ongoing financial losses.
Despite the layoffs, Bilibili has decided to retain Xinyuan Studio's second-dimensional projects. It has been revealed that two such projects will continue development, including the second-dimensional action battle royale game "Code Name YY16" and another adaptation of a popular Japanese anime IP.