Tencent and NetEase video game drought continues as China approves another 69 titles, mostly from small developers
- The National Press and Publication Administration has approved 241 video game titles for sale in China this year, far behind previous years
- Tencent and NetEase have not had new titles approved in more than a year and have relied on unpublished games approved before the licensing freeze
The latest list from the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), China’s top watchdog for video games and other online media, includes 65 mobile titles, with two others for the Nintendo Switch, one for personal computers and one browser-based game. Without any new titles approved in over a year, the two largest developers in China’s US$49 billion video gaming market have been left out of the gradual recovery since the end of an eight-month licensing freeze in April.
The continued drought in August marks 14 months since Tencent last had a new game approved and 13 months for NetEase. With the exception of two prolonged suspensions in 2018 and 2021, the NPPA typically releases a list of new game approvals every month.
Tencent’s shares have slumped 37.4 per cent in Hong Kong since the end of last July, when the last list was released before the licensing freeze. NetEase’s shares have fallen about 10 per cent in the same period.
