Investors are betting firms like Animoca Brands can disrupt incumbent video games business model by combining NFTs and the metaverse.

The past year saw an international boom in NFTs, the total value of which exceeded US$40 billion, but criminal activity has also increased in this sector.

Working professionals in Hong Kong are leaving job security behind to start their own NFT projects, but their rapid rise in the span of a few months has increased concerns of a bubble.

Projects like Delirious Mind Travelers and Degenerate Ape Academy are spending big money in a bet on the future of NFTs in Asia’s financial hub.

With the process for new approvals in limbo, about 14,000 small studios and video gaming-related firms in China went out of business over the past several months.

The change of mood in China’s tech industry due to a barrage of regulatory change is tangible and sudden after a decade of exceptional growth.

Chinese online search giant Baidu is cutting at least 100 employees from its video games development unit, as the company moves to trim losses amid Beijing’s ongoing regulatory crackdown.

Monkey Kingdom fraud is the latest in a series of scams seen in the space in recent months as the popularity around NFT reaches fever pitch.

Mao Xingyun, a video game programmer and avid writer who enjoyed a wide following on the Chinese internet, died at age 30.

Slower growth comes after Chinese regulators implemented teenage play limits and froze new game licence approvals in August.

The development comes after Microsoft recently pulled LinkedIn from China and introduced a new job search app without a social feed

The CCTV reports said that pay-to-play blockchain games should be treated with caution, and that many are a scam, underlining Beijing’s aversion to cryptocurrency activities.

Analysts say Alibaba wants to leverage its edge and cloud computing technology to establish the essential infrastructure for the metaverse.

In Hong Kong, where housing is scarce and property is deemed the most critical of investments, the interest around digital land sales is reaching a fever pitch.

The Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget aims to build a decentralised metaverse outside the control of Big Tech as investors pour money into its NFT virtual land sales.

The White House has placed SenseTime on an investment blacklist over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang after the AI company cut its IPO size by more than half earlier this week.

Douban has provided Chinese netizens with a relatively liberal forum to share unconventional opinions that sometimes contradict Beijing’s views.

Video gaming giant Tencent has selected Singapore as the site of its fourth overseas TiMi development studio, as the Southeast Asian city state is shaping up to be a regional hub for the sector.

Hong Kong buyers of Bored Apes non-fungible tokens see their investments explode in value in the span of months, but rather than cash in by selling, some owners think their NFTs could grow into something even bigger.

NetEase’s suspension of PC gaming software sent shares tumbling on Tuesday, raising fears over an extended licensing freeze in the industry.

After several false starts, Stanford graduates from Taiwan have built an AI success story in the niche field of marketing technology.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been engaged in a broad campaign to ensure compliance with China’s new data laws.

The limited-quantity digital collectibles, issued jointly with Tencent Holdings, cannot be sold or traded, a move designed to skirt Beijing’s regulatory scrutiny.

In an interview with the Post, CMGE vice-chairman Hendrick Sin says China aims to carefully regulate video games as they are a channel for expressing ideology.

It is not known how long the suspension will last and the Chinese ministry has not published any information about the ban.

Metaverse, seen by some people as the next iteration of the internet, could look very different in China than the rest of the world, said analysts.

SCMP first announced its ARTIFACT project in July, joining other media organizations around the world that see NFT as part of the future for the digital publishing industry.

Selling reconditioned devices and licensing handset designs reflect Huawei’s bid to expand revenue sources, while working to stay relevant in the global smartphone market.

Tencent-owned Riot Games wants to expand into other forms of entertainment for gamers, and the success of its first TV series on Netflix is a big step in that direction, the CEO tells the Post.