For the second time this year, China has authorized new video game licenses after a month of freezing in the world’s largest market, a move that has seen a positive signal for tech giants.
The sector has been under pressure for months from Beijing, which has escalated blows against powerful Internet companies, which have been fined for competition and personal data issues.
Video games, which represent an important financial windfall in China, but are rejected because of their addictive side to young people, have not been spared this acquisition.
Beijing has frozen any new licenses for nine months, weighing on the profitability of Chinese heavyweight Tencent.
On Tuesday, 60 new video games were licensed in China after the first batch in April, the press and publication administration said.
Tencent and its competitor NetEase have not obtained any licenses, however, unlike local studios such as Perfect World or miHoYo, publishers of the popular game. Effect of Genshin.
The green light from Beijing prompted a surge in technology stocks on Wednesday, with hopes of fixing this sector that has been under pressure for months.
Strong stock market reaction
Tencent stock gained more than 6% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, while NetEase gained more than 5%.
E-commerce champion Alibaba, which was the first to suffer punishment by the authorities, reached more than 10%.
In August, authorities imposed a severe limit of three hours of online video games per week for those under 18, while some had previously spent the entire day there.
Regulatory uncertainties weigh on the profitability of the technology giants: Tencent reported sluggish quarterly growth last month, not seen since 2004.
Threatened by an economic slowdown, however, the Chinese government seems to have lowered its alcohol consumption in recent weeks.
Beijing reaffirmed its support for the digital economy in April and received several industry leaders in the process.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
