China video gaming crackdown: industry revenue sinks to new low in Q3 under Beijing’s scrutiny
- Total sales in the Chinese video gaming market declined 19.1 per cent to about US$8 billion between July and September, according to CNG
- The number of mobile games that were shut down also jumped 89 per cent from the previous quarter, with one out of 10 cancelled titles from Tencent
China’s mobile game sales in the third quarter plunged to their lowest since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with tightened industry regulations weighing on what is traditionally a peak season for video gaming as schools break for summer.
Total sales in the Chinese video gaming market declined to 59.7 billion yuan (US$8.23 billion) between July and September, down 19.1 per cent from 73.8 billion yuan in the same period last year, according to a report on Friday by Chinese video gaming intelligence firm CNG.
Sales also fell 12.6 per cent from the previous quarter, when the industry brought in 68.3 billion yuan in revenue.
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The downturn was mainly due to the disappointing sales of mobile games, which slid nearly 25 per cent from the same period last year to 41.6 billion yuan due to “the impact of the macro economy”, the report said.
It marked the worst sales since the first quarter of 2020, according to CNG data.
“Compared with the same period last year, the numbers of active users and hours dropped significantly and spending power has weakened,” CNG said in the report, adding that new games released this year have failed to match the popularity of those from last year.
The number of mobile games that were shut down also jumped 89 per cent from the previous quarter, with one out of 10 cancelled titles being made by Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest video gaming business by revenue.
Despite the setback, Tencent games still dominated the charts for the highest grossing mobile games in China, with Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite – the localised version of PUBG Mobile – taking the top two spots.
The weaker performance of China’s video gaming market came in the aftermath of the country’s tightened restrictions on the industry, which includes a cap on the time and money young gamers can spend in online games.
There was no reprieve during the summer, when Tencent reminded minors that they could only play a total of 21 hours during the holiday from July 11 to August 31.
The slow resumption of game licensing in China has also stalled the release of new titles. The National Press and Publication Administration stopped granting game licences for eight months until this April, when it approved 45 titles, followed by 67 and 69 more in July and August, respectively.
It was not until September, when authorities granted 73 new permits, that Tencent and NetEase – China’s second-largest gaming company – received their first licences in 15 and 14 months, respectively.
In the first half of 2022, the combined revenue in China’s video gaming market fell 1.8 per cent year on year, marking the first decline since 2008, while the number of gamers fell to 665.69 million at the end of June from 666.57 million last December, according to a July report by the Game Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association.
While some Chinese companies have turned their focus overseas amid the gloomy domestic environment, international sales of self-developed Chinese video games have also suffered.
Global sales of Chinese games dropped 14 per cent year on year to 4.3 billion yuan in the quarter ended September 30, according to CNG.
