On December 22, the National Press and Publication Administration website released the "Online Game Management Measures (Draft for Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") to solicit opinions from the public. It mentioned that online games are not allowed to set inductive rewards such as daily login, first recharge, and continuous recharge; all online games must set user recharge limits. According to industry insiders, it is still a draft for comments at present, but if it is implemented, it will have a greater impact on game companies, and it will actually affect profitability.
The news caused an earthquake in the industry. According to industry insiders, it is still a draft for comments, but if it is implemented, it will have a greater impact on game companies and will actually affect profitability. After the "Measures" were issued at noon, Hong Kong gaming stocks led by NetEase and Tencent plunged sharply.
As of press time, Hong Kong stocks NetEase fell by more than 23%, Tencent Holdings fell by more than 13%, and Bilibili fell by more than 10%. In addition, Hong Kong game stocks including Xindong, Zulong Entertainment, China Mobile Games, IGG, NetDragon, and iDreamSky.com fell more than 10%. The A-share online game sector opened sharply in the afternoon, and 10 stocks including Sanqi Interactive Entertainment (rights protection), Youzu Networks, and Giant Networks crashed and fell to their limit.
Specifically, the "Measures" mentioned in Chapter 3 of the Publishing and Management of Online Games to limit excessive use of games and high consumption. Online games are not allowed to set inductive rewards such as daily login, first-time recharge, continuous recharge, etc. Online game publishing units shall not provide or condone high-priced transactions in virtual props in the form of speculation, auctions, etc. All online games must set user recharge limits and announce them in their service rules. Pop-up warnings should be issued to users for irrational consumption behavior.
Regarding the prohibition on the trading of high-value props, game industry practitioners told China Business News, "Currently, some games have props ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. It will no longer work if these are implemented."
The "Measures" also stipulates random draws, mentioning that when online game publishing business units provide random draw services, they should make reasonable settings for the number of draws and probabilities, and must not induce excessive consumption by online game users. At the same time, users should be provided with other ways to obtain virtual props and value-added services with the same performance, such as virtual prop exchange and direct purchase using online game currency.
Chapter 4 of the "Measures" focuses on the protection of minors, stating that the restrictive requirements for providing paid services to minors should be strictly implemented, the amount of consumption by minors of different ages in using their services should be reasonably limited, and minors must not be provided with paid services that are inconsistent with their civil capacity; random drawing services must not be provided to minors; online game live broadcasts must not involve minors rewarding;
In addition, the "Measures" propose that those engaged in online game publishing activities must have the necessary technical equipment required to engage in online game publishing business, and relevant servers and storage equipment must be stored within the territory of the People's Republic of China. The "Measures" clarify that the scope of use of online game currency is limited to the exchange of online game products and services provided by itself, and shall not be used to pay, purchase physical goods, or exchange for products and services of other units; it shall not provide users with services for exchanging online game currency for legal currency.
At the recent annual meeting of the game industry, the just-released "2023 China Game Industry Report" showed that the actual sales revenue of the Chinese game market in 2023 was 302.964 billion yuan, an increase of 37.080 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.95%, breaking through the 300 billion mark for the first time.
In 2023, the number of game users in China will be 668 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.61%, which is a new historical high. In 2023, the actual sales revenue of my country's mobile game market was 226.86 billion yuan, an increase of 33.802 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.51%, setting a new record.
The "2023 Progress Report on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry" released at the same time shows that since the issuance of the "Notice on Further Strict Management to Effectively Prevent Minors from Being Addicted to Online Games" in August 2021, the anti-addiction work in games has achieved remarkable results. Attention to the time limit for minors' gaming has dropped by 70%, and minors' game consumption has also maintained a downward trend.
Data from the "Report" shows that in 2023, 15.41% of parents of minors still encountered their children secretly recharging money, more than 70% of parents' refund applications were processed, and nearly 40% of refund applications were fully refunded.