China approves 105 online games after draft limits huge traffic losses

BANGKOK (AFP) – China's Press and Publications Commission has approved 105 new online games, saying it fully supports the industry after proposed restrictions. It caused huge losses Last week for investors in major gaming companies.

The National Press and Publication Administration issued a statement on its WeChat social media account on Monday, saying that the approvals obtained by the Game Working Committee of the China Music and Digital Association were “positive signals supporting the prosperity and healthy development of the online gaming industry.”

Tencent's “Counter War: Future” and NetEase's “Firefly Assault” were among the games approved.

Draft guidelines for restrictions on online gaming caused the stock prices of video game makers such as Tencent and Netease to plunge on Friday, causing tens of billions of dollars in losses and dragging Chinese indexes lower.

Online games will be prohibited from offering incentives for daily logins or purchases, the administration's guidelines said. Other restrictions include limiting how much users can recharge and issuing warnings about “irrational consumption behaviour”.

On Friday, Netease's Nasdaq-traded shares fell 16.1% while its Hong Kong-traded shares fell 25%. Tencent shares closed down 12%. Huya Inc, a small online game maker, lost 10.7% on the New York Stock Exchange. Overall, companies lost tens of billions of dollars in market value.

The Hong Kong market was closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday. Stock prices in Shanghai were flat.

The Department of Press and Publication said that in 2023, 1,075 version numbers for the game were released, including 977 local products and 98 imported.

It also cited the “2023 China Gaming Industry Report” which it said showed that the domestic online gaming market's sales revenue exceeded 300 billion yuan ($42 billion) in 2023, with the number of people playing games reaching 668 million.

“The game working committee hopes that member units will seize this opportunity to launch more high-quality products, promote the high-quality development of the online game industry, and contribute to promoting cultural prosperity and development and building a culturally strong country,” she said. .

China has taken various measures against the online gaming sector in recent years.

In 2021, regulators limited the amount of time children can spend on games to just three hours per week, expressing concern about addiction to video games. Approvals for new video games were suspended for about eight months, but resumed in April 2022 as the broader crackdown on the entire tech industry eased.