(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- Baidu is said to be downsizing its gaming and livestreaming businesses to save costs after the Chinese internet giant ran up huge losses in the third quarter, China Times reported yesterday. Baidu has yet to comment.

Almost all the 300-plus employees in Baidu’s gaming unit have been dismissed and 90 percent of those who work in the livestreaming department, Sina Technology reported earlier. Vice President Cao Xiaodong, who is also head of the mobile ecological user growth division and head of the interactive entertainment platform, is leaving, it said.

“The gaming unit can neither provide traffic nor sufficient income for Baidu, so it is inevitable that the firm will make cuts,” China Times reported, citing Pan Helin, executive dean of the digital economy institute at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

The Beijing-based company is also heavily focused on the metaverse industry, which overlaps with its gaming business to some extent, so some staff are likely to be transferred, he added.

Baidu's net loss widened more than 28 times to CNY16.6 billion (USD2.6 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year ago, due to fair value adjustments of long-term investments, according to its latest financial results released on Nov. 17. Revenue, though, jumped 13 percent over the period.

Baidu moved into livestreaming in May last year to diversify its revenue streams. Last November it said it will acquire Joyy’s live-streaming service YY Live for USD3.6 billion, but the deal has yet to be approved by regulators.

Editor: Kim Taylor