Commissar SFLUFAN Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 China announces rules to reduce spending on video games (Reuters) Quote Chinese regulators announced on Friday a wide range of rules aimed at curbing spending and rewards that encourage video games, dealing a blow to the world's biggest games market, which returned to growth this year. The new rules, which will effectively set spending limits for online games, sparked panic among investors, wiping off nearly $80 billion in market value from China's two biggest gaming companies, as investors sought to gauge the potential impact on earnings and more restrictions in the offing. Online games will now be banned from giving players rewards if they log in every day, if they spend on the game for the first time or if they spend several times on the game consecutively. All are common incentive mechanisms in online games. Quote The new rules revealed on Friday are the most explicit yet aimed at curbing in-game spending. Besides banning reward features, games are also required to set limits on how much players can top up their digital wallets for in-game spending. "The removal of these incentives is likely to reduce daily active users and in-app revenue, and could eventually force publishers to fundamentally overhaul their game design and monetisation strategies," said Ivan Su, an analyst at Morningstar. Games are also banned from offering probability-based lucky draw features to minors, and from enabling the speculation and auction of virtual gaming items. But the new rules included a proposal that is widely expected to be welcomed by the industry, requiring regulators to process game approvals within 60 days. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators announced on the same day licences for 40 new imported games for domestic releases, seen as a signal of Beijing's willingness to allow more games in the country, despite the draft rules on game spending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted December 25, 2023 Author Share Posted December 25, 2023 This is the impact of the announcement on Tencent's stock price on the Hong Kong exchange: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 NetEasing my out of the stock market. Tencent away from losing it all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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