China is preparing new restrictions for minors. China’s Central Commission for Cyberspace Affairs (CAC) has published draft rules setting limits on the time that children can spend on mobile applications.

The number of gamers in China has reached a record level, SCMP reports, citing data from the Association of Audio-Video and Digital Publishers of China. In the first half of 2023, 668 million people in the country played video games. This is almost half of the population of China*.

It will become more difficult for Chinese children to circumvent the time limit for games. China’s Central Commission for Cyberspace Affairs has announced that it will closely monitor services for the sale and rental of gaming accounts.

WeChat’s WeChat product manager Li Qing said that more than 400 million people play mini-games on the Chinese platform every month. He revealed this figure during a speech at the WeChat Open Class conference.

Last year, China’s gaming market shrank by 2.4% to $45.5 billion, according to analysts at Niko Partners. Despite the fall, it remained the largest in the world.

New Fortune Magazine has published a list of the richest businessmen from China in 2023. Three lines in it were taken by the founders of miHoYo, whose total fortune the publication estimated at ¥114.75 billion ($ 16.32 billion).

Chinese App Store users spent $32.07 million in Honkai: Star Rail in 12 days after the game was released. This figure was shared by the Honkai Lab portal.

Tencent wants to strengthen itself outside of China and protect its business from the growing control of the Chinese authorities. According to the Financial Times, citing sources, the holding intends to actively buy shares in foreign studios. First of all, in European countries.

On April 20, the National Press and Publications Administration of China (NPPA) published a new list with games approved for release in the country. Among others, Mobile Legends got into it: Bang Bang — a mobile MOBA developed by Moonton studio and competing with Honor of Kings from Tencent.

Chinese gaming companies have started hiring artists less. In a comment to the Rest of the World portal, recruiter Leo Li said that over the past year the number of new vacancies for artists has decreased by 70%.

In April 2022, the Chinese regulator resumed issuing permits for the publication of games in the country after a pause that lasted eight months. Nevertheless, licenses were not issued very willingly all year. In 2023, the situation will improve, Niko Partners predicts.

Gaming companies from Russia want to obtain licenses for the release of games in China, bypassing the queue, according to sources of Kommersant. They asked the government to negotiate with the Chinese regulator to grant them 50 special licenses each year.

The Russian government may help domestic developers with publishing games in China. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed gaming companies that are part of the Competence Center for the Development of System-wide and Applied Software for Gaming Services (hereinafter CCR) to prepare proposals for the necessary measures of state support for the export of games.

The National Press and Publications Administration of China (NPPA) has issued licenses for the release of 27 foreign games in the country. The list of approved games included, among others, Merge Mansion from Metacore and Spring Valley from Playkot.

Analysts from Gamma Data have published a monthly report on the state of the Chinese gaming market. According to them, in January 2023, the market began to recover, but the situation on it is still far from ideal.

This proposal was made by the Association of Audio-Video and Digital Publishers of China. Its head of Ao Ran said that protecting minors from the harmful effects of video games is a long—term and fundamental task for the country.

There are rumors in Chinese social networks that Blizzard Entertainment has chosen a publisher who will operate its games in China. If you believe them, then in April Zhejiang Century Huatong, a group of companies that publishes Final Fantasy XIV and Dungeons & Dragons Online in China, will become a new partner of the developer.

The Chinese antimonopoly regulator asked the opinion of local developers about the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Corporation. He did not publicly publish the answers, but, according to media reports, the companies interviewed did not object to the deal.

On January 17, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it had asked NetEase to temporarily extend the partnership, but was refused. Soon, the Chinese company issued a response statement in which it criticized the terms of the deal and the developers themselves.