Rumor: Perfect World to Outsource Zongheng to 178.com
Sohu IT, 4/08/10
According to a reliable source, Beijing-based online game developer and operator Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) is restructuring operation of its literature website, Zongheng.com, due to poor performance. The website's original team will be transferred to other departments within the company, and Perfect World will outsource Zongheng's entire operations to Chinese gaming website 178.com. Going forward, Zhang Yunfan, president of 178.com, will also serve as president of Zongheng.
The source said that, despite having established a team of permanent authors, Zongheng's performance in the more than one year since it launched has been poorer than expected. The source added that Perfect World had invested tens of millions of RMB into the site, and that the poor return on that investment has caused the site's original manager to resign out of shame.
When questioned about this report, a Perfect World staff member close to the matter said that Perfect World is currently in talks with 178.com, and that 178.com may take over the operation of Zongheng, but that staff would not be affected.
Editor's Note: Responding to the rumors, Perfect World stated that it hopes to develop resource sharing and integration with 178.com, to jointly pioneer cooperation models combining online gaming and literature. Perfect World said that a portion of the novels on Zongheng have garnered interest to be remade into online games or films, and that Perfect World hopes to take advantage of 178.com's resources to provide extra media support for Zongheng, while Zongheng will remain focused on the creation of literary content. 178.com president Zhang Yunfan said that the company will provide Zongheng with additional operations support for the website.
178.com also revealed that the site sees daily visits from 3 mln unique IP addresses, with 30 mln page views, and that the site is home to over 6 mln registered users.
Keywords: online literature corporate restructuring HR Perfect World Zhang Yunfan 178.com Internet PWRD Zongheng Internet traffic registered users online gaming
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