Gambling in the People’s Republic of China is strictly prohibited (with the rare exception of some autonomous regions, such as Macau). This week it became known that a meeting will be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, during which the issue of gambling in the mobile segment of the industry will be discussed.
The following issues will be proposed for discussion at the meeting:
- countering mobile applications that include elements of gambling;
- rules that will allow you to regulate games with randomly dropped items;
- how to create a healthy competitive environment in the mobile games industry.
The Chinese government has opposed games with randomly dropped prizes in the past. In 2013, eight games were declared illegal. All of them included elements that allow the user to pay real or virtual money for the opportunity to receive a prize.
The main problem, perhaps, is the following: the existing legislative system rather vaguely defines what exactly can be considered gambling. For example, when Hearthstone was released in China, there was a debate about whether the game should be recognized as illegal.
The meeting will be devoted only to the discussion of pressing issues; the solution of the voiced problems is still far away. Chinese sources express the opinion that clear rules and frameworks will benefit the Chinese game industry.