Tencent throws out popular fish shooting games from app stores amid China’s tightened video gaming regulation
- Chinese internet giant Tencent has removed popular fish shooting games from its app stores as part of a ‘risk inspection’ campaign
- Fish shooting games, in which players use cannons to shoot a variety of fish in a pool for rewards, are one of the most profitable gaming genres in China
“MyApp recently conducted a risk inspection on all the fish shooting games on the platform,” a Tencent spokeswoman said on Tuesday. She indicated that all promotion and search activity for fish shooting games have been stopped under this initiative.
“Users who have already downloaded these games won’t be affected,” the spokeswoman said. “They can use and update the apps as they normally would.”
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Fish shooting games encourage players to buy better virtual equipment, such as ammunition, to improve their chances to kill particular fish that carry big rewards. That element has been constantly mentioned in Chinese media reports as a way to lure players, especially kids, to overspend and become addicted to these games.
There are currently 805 licensed fish shooting games in mainland China, according to government data. Regulators stopped granting licences to new fish shooting games in 2019, when authorities cracked down on so-called casino games like mahjong and poker.
Fish shooting games are often lumped with casino games because these can be commonly found in bricks-and-mortar gambling dens, where cash rewards are offered. Between 2014 and 2016, fish shooting games took off in popularity within many overseas Chinese communities in places like California and Hawaii.
Publishers of fish shooting games for smartphones, however, continue to see high demand from their broad user base. Ocean Fortune, a leading fish shooting game from Hong Kong-based publisher Wonderful Moment, was estimated to have made 5.4 million yuan (US$846,000) over the past 30 days, according to app tracking platform Qimai.
Fishing Joy 2, developed by Beijing-based Chukong Technologies, was the first mobile game in China to record monthly revenue north of 10 million yuan back in 2012.
Overall video gaming sales in China are projected to reach more than 290 billion yuan this year, up from 278 billion yuan last year, despite the tightened regulatory regime that seeks to stamp out gaming addiction, according to data from research firm CNG. Mobile games are expected to hit more than 230 billion yuan this year, making up the bulk of that market forecast.
