China’s video gaming industry on edge as government approval of new game licences remains in limbo

Chinese video gaming companies are feeling left in limbo as the industry’s regulator remains silent about the resumption of approvals for new online games after a recent crackdown.

The freeze in new game approvals in the world’s biggest video gaming market already reached 100 days as of Friday.

The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), which is in charge of licensing video games in the country, has not published a list of approved new titles since the end of July. This marks the longest freeze in processing new game licences since a nine-month regulatory hiatus in 2018.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Huang Yimeng, founder and chief executive of video game distributor XD, said he did not know when Beijing would resume the approval process for new games. Hong Kong-listed XD is currently working on four self-developed games, all of which are pending government approval for launch in mainland China.

The slowdown in approvals for new online games forms part of Beijing’s measures to tackle gaming addiction among young people, according to a Post report last month, citing people with knowledge of the matter.