On December 22, the State Press and Publication Administration issued the "Measures for the Administration of Online Games (Draft for Comments)", with the deadline for comments being January 22, 2024.
https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxfb/tzgs/202312/t20231221_823187.html
The Draft stipulates:
Article 18 [Restricting excessive use of games and high consumption] Online games are not allowed to set inductive rewards such as daily login, first recharge, and continuous recharge . Online game publishing units shall not provide or condone high-priced transactions in virtual props in the form of speculation, auctions, etc. All online games must set user recharge limits and announce them in their service rules. Pop-up warnings should be issued to users for irrational consumption behavior.
Article 24 [Game Currency Transaction Standards] When engaging in online game currency transaction services, the following provisions shall be observed:
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(1) No transaction services may be provided for unapproved online games;
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(2) Real-name digital RMB wallets should be used for online game currency transactions, and anonymous digital RMB wallet transaction services must not be provided to users;
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(3) Technical measures should be taken to effectively supervise the transaction process, and transactions involving illegal and suspicious behaviors must be reported to relevant departments in a timely manner to avoid facilitating illegal activities such as online gambling and online fraud;
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(4) After receiving notices from interested parties, government departments, and judicial authorities, they should assist in verifying the legality of the transaction. If it is verified that the transaction is illegal, measures should be taken immediately to terminate the transaction service and keep relevant records;
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(5) Keep transaction records, accounting records and other information between users for no less than 2 years from the date of a single transaction.
Article 27 [Random Drawing] When providing random drawing services, online game publishing business units should make reasonable settings for the number of draws and probabilities, and must not induce excessive consumption by online game users . At the same time, users should be provided with other ways to obtain virtual props and value-added services with the same performance, such as virtual prop exchange and direct purchase using online game currency.
Article 28 [Prohibition on Providing Payment Services for Illegal Games] No unit shall provide payment services for illegal online games and illegal online game business activities...
Article 29 [Publicity and Promotion Standards] Provide publicity and promotion services for online games The unit shall inspect the relevant certification documents of the service recipients, check the advertising content, and shall not publish online game advertisements with inconsistent content or incomplete certification documents. High-value rewards are not allowed in online game live broadcasts . The promotion of online games shall not contain the content listed in Article 16 of these Measures and other content prohibited by laws and regulations.
As soon as the "Online Game Management Measures (Draft for Comments)" came out, it caused a "tremendous shock" in the game industry. The Hong Kong stocks of major online game companies plunged collectively: NetEase's stock price fell by 8%, Tencent Holdings fell by 5.7%, and Bilibili's Hong Kong stock price fell by 4%. .
In the afternoon, the decline of Hong Kong gaming stocks further expanded, with Tencent once falling by more than 15% and NetEase falling by nearly 30%, setting a record for the largest intraday decline.