Sources are reporting that China has ‘put a freeze’ on the approvals of game licenses in the country – and it’s said to have been four months since any new games were approved for sale.
Tencent, which distributes games in China on behalf of major games publishers including EA and Blizzard, has lost $150 billion of its market value since the beginning of the year, and even some of the biggest titles in gaming have yet to release in China.
Fortnite and PUBG are still awaiting their approval from the Chinese government, with Tencent yet to receive confirmation that the desktop versions of both games, and the mobile version of PUBG, can be released on the market.
Just last week, Tencent had to remove Monster Hunter: World from sale because of licensing issues in the country.
Reporting on the tense situation, Bloomberg stated: “The halt follows a restructuring of power among departments, said the people, who asked not to be named because they don’t have approval to discuss the issue publicly.
“Regulators have also been concerned about violence and gambling in some games, according to one person. Online, mobile and console games have all been affected.”
Although sources ” familiar with the matter” did not disclose their names to any news outlets, it’s believed that the ‘freeze’ on game license approvals is stemming from a restructuring within the Chinese government, which is also having an effect on other media approvals, including television and radio.
However, it also seems that loot boxes might be playing a role in the halt to proceedings, as countries all over the world have debated whether or not loot boxes in gaming can constitute as gambling and whether or not they need regulating.
The ‘freeze’ isn’t just affecting China, as Japan seems to be suffering as well. Capcom’s shares have recently dropped, as have Konami’s.
Hopefully the situation gets resolved soon, or we might be seeing the knock-on effects across the globe…
