China Appears to be Softening Its Newly Proposed Game Regulations After Billions of Dollars Drop in Stock Market 

After looking to strengthen restrictions on games that led to a $80 billion rout last week, China appears to be softening its game regulations.

In a report by Bloomberg, China approved 105 domestic games on Monday, serving as an indication that Beijing is softening the game restrictions that were proposed last week.

When the proposed guidelines were revealed, the Chinese games market was heavily affected with huge publishing companies such as Tencent Holdings and NetEase having their shares declined by nearly $80 billion in market value.

The new rules were announced by the country’s State Administration for Press and Publication (SAPP) last week, putting restrictions on online games including the ban on daily login rewards and a reinforced unspecified spending limit per day, as well as prohibition on any content that would violate national security.

Additionally, the proposals would also see Chinese companies mandated to have their servers stored in China itself.

Note that the administration did announced that they will be taking in feedback from stakeholders and players to tweak and improve the rules.

On Monday, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) issued a statement on its WeChat social media account, announcing that 105 online games have been approved for publication.

Among the games include “Counter War: Future” by Tencent and “Firefly Assault” by NetEase.

“The latest events reflect the government’s desire for a larger, more diverse gaming landscape with innovative content of a higher quality but one without excessive monetization or ‘pay-to-win’ games,” said Yang Wenfeng, a senior vice president with Shanghai-based games studio Paper Games.

“The government prefers publishers to earn profits through fair practices and product innovation, rather than deepening monetization strategies.”

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