The industry’s declining fortunes mark a sharp reversal for the once thriving industry. “Although many dozens of titles have been approved, these resourceful players who understand the Chinese gaming market and tastes of the players very well have not been able to launch new titles,” Nir Kshetri, an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who has researched China’s gaming industry, told Al Jazeera. The two biggest domestic players, Tencent Holdings and NetEase, which together account for about 60 percent of the market, and foreign publishers have yet to have a single title approved for release. Under a sweeping regulatory crackdown on the sector, Beijing introduced time limits for online gaming by minors and real-name verification rules to prevent anonymous in-game purchases.Īlthough the end of a nine-month freeze on new titles in April provided a glimmer of hope for the industry, the number of releases has been a trickle compared with previous years. The sector’s current difficulties follow an even rockier 2021. “So most gamers like me will inevitably have less disposable income to spend on games.” “The economy and the job market are really bad,” Wang Liang, a 22-year-old university student in Beijing who enjoys first-person shooters, told Al Jazeera. Popular mobile titles such as Fate/Grand Order and Azur Lane rely on in-game purchases by players trying to get a leg up on their peers to make money. “That’s because I’m worried I’ll have to save more during these uncertain times, because I might be put under lockdown or face unemployment.”įree-to-download games have not escaped the downturn either. “I spend less on games now than I used to, even though I earn more now than in previous years,” Jon, who asked to be referred to by his English first name, told Al Jazeera. ![]() Chinese gamers are cutting back on game purchases amid a lack of new titles and a slowing economy įor Jon, a 29-year-old Shanghai resident who often plays mobile games such as Honor of Kings, the dicey economic conditions have meant cutting back on his hobby. In June, youth unemployment hit 19.3 percent, the highest level on record. ![]() The world’s second-largest economy barely avoided contraction in the last quarter, growing just 0.4 percent, as authorities continued to roll out harsh lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19. Excluding overseas sales, revenue shrank a steeper 4.25 percent.Ĭhina’s slowing economy under “zero COVID” has compounded the sector’s woes, with many young people finding they have less money for non-essential purchases such as video games. Video game revenues in the first half of 2022 fell for the first time since data became available in 2008, declining 1.8 percent to 147.8 billion yuan ($21.9bn), according to industry figures published by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association and the Gaming Industry Research Institute of China. ![]() Zhang’s frustration is reflected in falling sales across the sector. Having fewer games to choose from is really sad to me.” ![]() “But we cannot find a game we all want to play these days. “Most of my friends like playing competitive first-person shooter games,” Zhang, a university student in Beijing, told Al Jazeera. So far this year, the Chinese market has released just 105 new games, compared with 755 titles in 2021, and more than 9,300 in 2017. These days, Zhang and his friends struggle to find games that grab their interest, after authorities implemented a nine-month freeze on issuing licences amid concerns about rising addiction in the world’s most populous nation. Beijing, China – Before China began cracking down on video games, Zhang “Yvan” Yifan had no shortage of new titles to play.
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