China’s Tencent wins first game licence

Latest Update- 29/12/2022

The biggest game maker in the world, Tencent, has received its first video game license from China in 18 months, ending a dry period that had challenged its status as the industry leader.

Beijing took action against the country's thriving gaming industry last year as part of a broad campaign against major digital firms, which included putting a time limit on how much time kids and teens may spend playing video games. Additionally, authorities put a nine-month hold on new name approvals until April.

The National Press and Publication Administration, China's game regulator, announced on Thursday that it had approved 70 new games in November, including the action game "Metal Slug: Awakening" by Tencent and the role-playing game "Journey to the West: Return" by competitor NetEase.

For video games to be released and sold in the Chinese market, gaming licences are required. Tencent last received a significant licence in May 2021.

In September, a Tencent subsidiary was granted a licence, although it was only for a free instructional game. Following the news of the licencing, shares of the Hong Kong-listed company increased 0.5 percent in early trade on Friday, while NetEase increased by 5%. The approval signals an easing of China's stringent stance toward internet corporations.

In an attempt to comply with government requests, hundreds of game developers agreed to remove "politically harmful" information from their products and impose restrictions on underage users during the tech crackdown.

Last Updated- 24/9/2021

The government of China plans to tighten strict rules on the time children spend gaming online. Giant gaming companies like Tencent will use facial recognition to enforce the rules. “You will have to link your real ID to your gaming account and Tencent will make you scan your face if you’re playing late night games. So even if your ID says you’re an adult, if you’re playing late night games, they’ll assume that you are minor unless you scan your face.” Such regulation, which affects adults and children, would be unacceptable in many countries.

Lisa Cosmas Hanson, whose market research firm Niko Partners analyses the Asian games market, points out that for years China banned the import of games consoles.On the other hand competition between the game-streaming platforms to attract star players is hotting up. For football fans the big news this week has been the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus to Manchester United, but for many gamers, it was two of Twitch's biggest stars - Tim The Tatman and Dr. Lupo - moving to stream competitor YouTube.