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China reveal new limits on game spending and rewards, wiping billions from Tencent and NetEase market valueDraft restrictions ban daily login rewards and limit digital wallet top-ups
Draft restrictions ban daily login rewards and limit digital wallet top-ups
Image credit:Tencent
Image credit:Tencent
Chinese regulators have announced far-reaching curbs on monetisation and reward systems for online games, in a move that has wiped almost $80 billion from the market value of the world’s biggest videogame publisher Tencent and their rival NetEase. Under the new government restrictions, which are pending final approval, online games in China will be banned from giving players rewards for logging in every day, spending money within the game for the first time, or spending money several times consecutively.
It’s far from the first time China’s government have sought to restrict videogame consumption, citing concern about exploitative practices and player addiction (one state media outlet has described videogames as a form of"spiritual opium"). In 2021, the government introduceda nine-month crackdown on new game licenses, whilelimiting gaming timefor under-18s to just an hour per day on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
You can read more about the experience of publishing games in China inKhee Hoon Chan’s 2019 report on the fate of Devotion, a brilliant Taiwanese horror game that was taken offline after it was found to contain unflattering allusions to China’s president Xi Jinping.
