Recently, Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology Co.,Ltd. (603258.SH) announced that its actual controller and chairman Hu Jianping completed the reduction of 4.8692 million shares between July and October, with a price range of 18.49-22.73 yuan per share, expected to generate approximately 101 million yuan in cash.
Hu Jianping is not the only executive reducing holdings at the company. According to an announcement disclosed on September 29, director Yu Xiaoliang plans to reduce no more than 3.9181 million shares. Based on the closing price of 21.05 yuan per share that day, the cash-out scale would reach 82.5926 million yuan. During the same period, board secretary Zhang Jiliang and CFO Wu Xiaojun plan to reduce 22,500 and 25,000 shares respectively, with the three executives' combined planned reduction ratio reaching 1.63%.
Cumulatively, Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology's core management team has reduced holdings worth over 200 million yuan within six months. Although the company stated that the reductions were due to "shareholders' personal funding needs," the continuous large-scale reductions have still attracted widespread market attention.
In recent years, Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology's performance has been disappointing. Financial data shows that from 2021 to 2024, the company's revenue was cut in half from 1.024 billion yuan to 550 million yuan, while net profit plummeted from 454 million yuan to 29.29 million yuan, representing a decline of 88.11%. The 2025 interim report further revealed that the company's revenue was 194 million yuan, down 28.69% year-over-year, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of 9.3381 million yuan, plunging 115.75% year-over-year. This marks the company's first interim loss since its 2016 IPO.
The core issue behind the performance decline lies in the continuous revenue drop from the company's core profit-generating product, the "Dream of Three Kingdoms" series, which has been in operation for 15 years. In 2024, this game generated 359 million yuan in revenue, down 18.46% year-over-year, yet still accounting for 65.27% of total revenue.
Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology has become a typical listed company heavily dependent on a single star product for its performance.
The 2024 annual report shows that the company has been actively investing in recent years, with long-term investments in over 40 enterprises. However, the investment results appear unsatisfactory. According to the company's response to regulatory inquiries this year, as of the end of 2024, among the 10 major investee companies under long-term equity investments, six companies are facing operational crises.
From the perspective of the gaming industry as a whole, under the backdrop of fierce competition, Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology faces even greater difficulty in breaking through its predicament.
Core data from the GPC "China Gaming Industry Report for January-June 2025" shows that domestic gaming market revenue reached 168 billion yuan in the first half of 2025 (up 14.08% year-over-year), but over 30% of new games have a lifecycle of less than three months, with the top 10% of products capturing more than 75% of market share.
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