Chinese game regulators are expected to resume issuing licenses for video game content starting January, according to media reports. The recommencement takes place after a nine-month freeze since approval was halted in March this year.
Chinese regulators stopped approval of titles following instructions from the government. The order was given following concerns over the growing number of children suffering from myopia or nearsightedness. The government was also concerned over game addictions and for young children being exposed to too much violence and gore.
Separate reports from Reuters and Financial Times stated that Feng Shixin, a senior regulatory official, said that they have approved the first batch of new licenses. The official, however, did not specify the date when these licenses are to be released, both of the reports said.
Top officials from some game companies are expecting licensing to resume in January but except for the regulatory officials to take several months to review and approved a backlog of maybe over than 5,000 title applications, the Financial Times reported. Other expected tougher licensing requirements moving forward.
There may be few approvals to be completed before the lunar year in February, Jerry Lin, vice-president at 37 Interactive Entertainment, guessed. This was also the guess of another manager at Gamebar Inc. who refused to be identified.
A series of licenses will likely be released in a couple of months due to numbers of lag in the approval of the application, analysts at Citigroup said.
Niko Partners, meanwhile, warned gaming companies that their content should hence be tone down, particularly with the gory details to receive a license.
Early this month, Chinese regulators gathered a designated committee that will focus on reviewing game content. The committee had reportedly reviewed 20 titles under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party.
The review of the 20 titles resulted in recommendations for an overhaul of 11 submitted games to eliminate violence. The committee rejected nine applications due to perceived inappropriate content.
The game licensing postponement since March has taken a toll to revenues of companies, not even China's gaming giant Tencent was excused. The company has reported its first profit decline in more than a decade within three months from when approvals were halted.
Tencent lost more than $100 billion in market value since June, Reuters said. As soon as reports emerged last week that the approval is going to be resumed next year, Tencent shares surged by 4.5 percent.
