News Bit: Chinese video game regulator has stopped approving new games

The South China Morning Post reveals that the Chinese video game regulator has quietly stopped approving new video game titles for release within the country. The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) hasn't approved any new games since July 2021.

This isn't the first time the NPPA has suddenly stopped approving new titles for release. In 2018, the regulator stopped approving titles for eight months. Sadly, this period of stonewalling has caused around 14,000 small studios and gaming-related businesses to close since July. This includes companies involved in publishing, advertising and even merchandising.

Larger Chinese companies have been hit less, of course. NetEase and Tencent have both begun to put more resources into creating studios outside of China. Tencent has already started changing up the development teams of games, too. They now have teams developing new titles when those same teams would previously be working on existing games.

So far, there's been no sign of this blockade on new games ending within the next few months.

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