Chinese authorities have banned the registration of new video games. They explained this by the struggle against gambling addiction among young people. It is unknown how long the ban will last.
Chinese regulators have temporarily suspended registration of new online games in the country, according to the South China Morning Post. Journalists note that the authorities will strike at Chinese game makers Tencent Holdings and NetEase. However, the government explained that these measures are coercive – they want to overcome addiction to gambling among young people.
The new rules for video games were adopted after a normative meeting held by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China and the National Press Service (NPPA). Together with representatives of Tencent and NetEase, they discussed the application of new restrictions, especially for minors.
However, even before the meeting, the licensing process for new games slowed down by more than a month.
An anonymous source who knew the details of the meeting said the licensing of new games would be suspended because the priority was to “reduce the number of new games” and “reduce gambling dependence” in the world’s largest video game market.
The NPPA, which is responsible for licensing video games in the country, has not published a list of approved games for August, violating the process – they usually do so either in the middle or at the end of the month from 2019. Usually 80 to 100 games are approved per month. The regulator has not yet responded to a request from the South China Morning Post for comment.
In 2018, amid changes in Chinese law, the authorities imposed a nine-month moratorium on the approval of new video games, which negatively affected many small developers.