China abandons strict restrictions on video game developers and players
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The National Press and Publishing Administration of the People’s Republic of China, which is a division of the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and is responsible for regulating the video game market, has removed from its website the draft new strict rules for regulating this market. Shares of video game developers and operators immediately responded with growth, the agency reports. Reuters.
Document appeared on the management website at the end of December 2023, and then its discussion began. Now the discussion period has ended, and with it the project itself has disappeared. The document required companies to obtain separate permission for each game in order to prevent the appearance of inappropriate content in it. In addition, gaming platforms had to cancel rewards for players for the first or daily login to a gaming site and other bonuses that encourage regular and long-term play, introduce restrictions on spending in games and the purchase of game currency, remove incentives for such spending, etc. Platforms should were to show players a warning banner if they demonstrate “irrational gaming behavior” by spending money to replenish their game wallet. And since in-game spending by players is the main source of income for developers and gaming platforms, their shares fell sharply after the publication of the bill, reducing the capitalization of companies including Tencent and Netease. Today, the shares of these companies began to grow: Tencent is adding almost 4%, Netease – more than 6%.
As experts note, there have previously been cases when amendments were made to a draft document published on the management website during the discussion period. However, removing it entirely is something new. Meanwhile, analysts say, it is possible that a thorough revision of the document is being prepared, and not necessarily in the direction of weakening its provisions.
How the Russian video game distribution market is developing – in the material “Common offer”.
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