China || Tencent and NetEase plummet by @canepocapon
The Asian giant announced Thursday the suspension of all online games, as reported by South China Morning Post.
This measure was taken in an attempt to curb gaming addiction among young people. The decision was made during a meeting with industry giants Tencent Holdings Ltd 700 and NetEase Inc NTES.
Pekin would have made the invitation on Wednesday to gambling companies including Tencent and NetEase. Tencet stayed on the sidelines and made no comment. Reteurs made a request for comment to NetEase to which it did not immediately respond.
In August China banned people under 18 from playing video games for more than three hours a week, saying the move was necessary to curb the growth of addiction to online gaming.
After the government summoned several companies in the sector to ensure that they are implementing the new regulations, Chinese stocks related to the video game sector have fallen sharply.
Tencent shares have plummeted 4% while NetEase shares are trading down 6.45%.
China's most popular anime, manga and video game fandom site Bilibili has dropped by as much as 7%.
Tencent owns some of the most popular video games, the company controls 40% of Epic Game, the developer of Fornite, while also owning League of Legends.
Changing the rules and game designs that induce players to play compulsively," were among the measures, regulators told the sector, according to Xinhua news agency.
The last time such a drastic move occurred was in 2018, when regulators froze game approvals over concerns about children's eyesight