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$20bn cut from Tencent value over Chinese games regulator nonsense

$20bn cut from Tencent value over Chinese games regulator nonsense

Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent has seen its first dip in quarterly profits in 13 years after local regulators announced changes to how games are released in the region.

As reported by Reuters, the company's value dipped by 5.3 per cent or, um, $20bn today (Friday, August 31st) after China's content regulators announced new restrictions on video games in order to fight growing myopia - shortsightedness - among the youth. 

What's more, Tencent's market value has dropped by $164bn since January 2018, going from being the biggest company in China by market cap to second place behind nemesis Alibaba Group. This hasn't been helped by said regulator simply not approving new games for release in the region since the end of March

Tencent isn't the only Chinese company whose stock prices have been hit by this news. NetEase stock declined 7.19 per cent, while Alibaba - who has less exposure in games - saw its shares drip 2.18 per cent.

These changes in what is allowed in China when it comes to games follow a five-month drought of new titles in the region as the local regulatory body underwent a restructure stopping the release of fresh content in the region.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.