Perfect World (company)

Perfect World Co., Ltd. (完美世界股份有限公司) is a Chinese mass media company based in Beijing. It was founded in 2004 by Chi Yufeng. The company consists of two business segments: Perfect World Games, a video game publisher, and Perfect World Pictures, a film production company.

Perfect World is the exclusive distributor of Valve's games Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 in China.

History
Perfect World was founded in 2004 by Chi Yufeng. A 1994 graduate of Tsinghua University, Chi had founded Beijing Hongen Education and Technology in 1996, which sold educational software to teach Chinese consumers how to use personal computers and learn English. He established Perfect World, then also known as Perfect World Games, as a developer and publisher of online multiplayer video games. The company became listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2007. In 2008, Chi founded the film production company Perfect World Pictures. After Perfect World Games was delisted from Nasdaq in 2015, it was merged with Perfect World Pictures, which was traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, in 2016. The combined company was renamed Perfect World. Perfect World Investment & Holding Group (完美世界控股集团有限公司), a holding company founded by Chi on 14 August 2013, owns a controlling interest in Perfect World.

Perfect World bought the developer Cryptic Studios from Atari, SA in May 2011 for €35 million. The transaction was completed by August that year.

Perfect World Entertainment was Perfect World's North American video game subsidiary. It was established in June 2008.

In December 2021, Perfect World sold Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios to Embracer Group. In June 2024, Perfect World reportedly laid off over 1,000 employees.

Perfect World Europe
Perfect World Europe B.V. is Perfect World's European video game subsidiary. It was established in early 2010 in Amsterdam. Gabriel Hacker was appointed as Perfect World Europe's general manager in May 2012. In early 2020, a large portion of the company's staff was laid off, leaving only the finance, customer support, and localisation departments. The subsidiary formerly owned Perfect World Entertainment, the publishing arm of the company which was sold to Embracer Group in 2021.

Runic Games
Runic Games was a developer founded in 2008 and based in Seattle. Perfect World acquired a controlling interest in the studio in May 2010 for US$8.4 million. On 3 November 2017, Perfect World shut down Runic Games, citing the publisher's focus on games as a service.

Collaborations with Valve
On 25 February 2016, Perfect World hosted Dota 2's Shanghai Major. While the tournament itself was well received in regards to the player performances, the event garnered criticism due to delays on stream, spotty broadcasts, and various other problems within the tournament, including the theft and deterioration of the competing teams' equipment. In the month that followed the event, the president of Perfect World, Yunfan Zhang, apologised for the issues with the event.

In June 2018, Perfect World and Valve announced that they were developing a version of Valve's Steam service for the Chinese market.

Games developed

 * Perfect World – January 2006
 * Perfect World II – November 2006 was later rebranded Perfect World International' and has had 16 expansions from 2008-2021
 * Legend of Martial Arts – September 2006
 * Jade Dynasty – 3D MMORPG - May 2007
 * Chi Bi – January 2008
 * Hot Dance Party – March 2008
 * Pocketpet Journey West – October 2008
 * Battle of the Immortals – April 2009
 * Ether Saga Odyssey – July 2009
 * Fantasy Zhu Xian – October 2009
 * Dragon Excalibur – October 2010
 * Forsaken World – October 2010
 * Empire of the Immortals – Q4 2010
 * War of the Immortals – December 2012
 * Swordsman Online – July 2014
 * Final Fantasy Type-0 Online – 2017
 * Tower of Fantasy – August 2022
 * Persona 5: The Phantom X - 2024
 * One-Punch Man: World - 2024
 * Neverness to Everness - TBD