China is planning new editions for video games. Among other things, the People's Republic is targeting content that glorifies money. The measures follow shortly after restrictions for minors. These are now only allowed to play online for three hours a week.
The new content-related provisions were part of a meeting that the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) attended, the gaming giant Tencent and NetEase had loaded. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the focus was primarily on measures to implement the new playtime limit for minors. Official bodies want to prevent the new provisions from being implemented negligently or from containing loopholes.
Content requirements
According to the newspaper, the state news agency Xinhua emphasized that content restrictions were also discussed at the meeting. It was emphasized that games that convey “false values” are boycotted. In China, this is not a threat that, as in this country, can usually be sat out because it means a state-organized, nationwide and permanent boycott carried out by the state media.
These “false values” include “money worship” or “homosexuality”. Game companies have also been instructed to step up their monetization self-regulation. According to the Chinese authorities, game mechanics that only generate profit should no longer exist. Other media, with which the Chinese Communist Party is currently monitoring and restricting public life much more closely than it did a few years ago, are also faced with similar requirements.
Campaign against addiction
Both the game time restrictions and the most recent requirements are part of a campaign with which the government seeks to curb video game addiction and prevent other potentially negative consequences of gaming. The medium is now regarded as an “electronic drug”.
According to the South China Morning Post, the approvals of new video games are currently severely reduced and have now been discontinued. The last time there was a complete ban on new publications was in 2018. The aim is to reduce the number of games in order to counter game addiction, but also to be able to implement the new measures, the site reports with reference to anonymous sources.
Future unclear
According to the report, it is still unclear what the aim of the measures is it says with reference to the market researchers from LightStream Research. If it is only about reducing addiction mechanisms, survive the large free-to-play market in Asia, albeit with considerable restrictions. If they were to do without them completely, the business model would have no future. In principle, this also applies to games with fair monetization, because even these representatives often rely on keeping players in the game with all their might and encouraging them to buy over the course of the game.