Some time ago, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) issued a "draft" on restricting game battles and consumption.
This move caused the market value of Tencent and NetEase to evaporate by about 500 billion in one day, and many game listed companies have fallen to the limit.
Fortunately, the Publications Administration listened to the opinions, and the relevant departments also put out the fire in a timely manner, saying that it still needs to be "seriously studied".
On January 23, the National Press and Publication Administration had removed from its website rules aimed at limiting payouts and rewards for playing online games.
Subsequently, Tencent, NetEase and even the entire Hong Kong stock market all pulled out the Dayang line, and the capital market gave positive feedback.
Why ease the regulation of games?
What are the new opportunities for China's game consumption industry?
I believe that when it comes to games, there will be many parents who gnash their teeth:
"It's all games that spoil the kids!"
"Games are a cancer, endangering the next generation of the motherland!"
But in fact, China is one of the most restrictive countries in the world for gaming.
Mainly embodied in:
1. All kinds of game consoles and software that are popular all over the world have long been not allowed to be imported in Chinese mainland.
For example, FC, GBA, PSP, Wii, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox360......
Many people can only play Chinese copycats or smuggled goods when they are young.
The Xiaobawang game console, which was popular all over the country back then, started with copycat Nintendo FC
2. Game publishing in China needs to go through almost the most rigorous review, and the copyright number is very small.
For example, the bloody picture of "severed head and limbs" in the game, as well as sexually inducing things, are not allowed to appear.
Moreover, the game must be published with a version number, which is only the case in China and Vietnam.
3. China even restricts gaming platforms.
For example, large game manufacturers such as Tencent and NetEase are required to strictly control children's game time, require minors to only play at specified times, and even take the initiative to launch an "anti-addiction system".
In the international community, gaming is often referred to as the "ninth art".
So the question is, why have foreign children been plagued by games for decades, the quality of their population, and why has their country not declined?
Is it possible that a child's addiction to games has nothing to do with the game itself, but with the way it is raised?
And even if the game is banned, there may be short videos, mahjong, and novels......
In the early 80s of the last century, China also banned the import of color TVs, but at that time, many people would rather risk going to jail and buy one to take home.
This is true for adults, let alone children?
Perhaps as Mo Yan said:
What can convince a person is never the truth, but the south wall, and what can wake up a person is never preaching, but suffering.
China has helped parents take care of their children to the greatest extent, and the issue of education and the development of the game industry are not opposite!
At the present stage, concentrating on the economy is the common goal of the country and the majority of the people.
The second biggest misconception many people have about the gaming industry is that it is useless.
But the fact is that the concepts of "high-end chips" and "metaverse" that we are all talking about today are precisely because of the development of the game industry.
In 1985, Alexei Pakitnov, a former Soviet engineer, used his time at work to invent what became known as Tetris.
At that time, the Soviet Union was full of talents, and even in the field of chip industry, it was comparable to the United States.
What Intel, IBM, Texas Instruments...... Every time these American companies pull out a new type of chip, Soviet scientists can quickly imitate it and declare to the outside world, "What you can do in the United States, we can do it too."
But the question is, where are these chips used?
With the popularization of electronic products such as computers, televisions, and game consoles, American consumers are very willing to pay for these things, which provides enterprises with R&D funds and R&D power, forcing them to create electronic entertainment products that are faster, smaller and easier to carry.
But the Soviet Union is a reverse cycle, making chips for the sake of making chips, and making them mainly to blow themselves to the outside world.
This led to the fact that the Soviet Union made chips, often not paying attention to quality and technology, just to mix things up.
It is not to apply chips to video games for mass entertainment consumption.
In the end, most of these chips were used in the military.
The United States is making a chip and putting it in a game console.
The Soviet Union made a chip and equipped it with a missile.
The end result was that the Soviet Union lagged far behind the United States in terms of consumption in the domestic market, so much so that people's livelihoods withered.
However, the research of Soviet chips lacked a private consumer market, no funds, and could not be in line with international standards, so the gap with the United States widened and widened until it collapsed.
Today, the gaming industry is still a major market for the advancement of chip technology.
The world's most well-known chip manufacturers: Intel, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, AMD, ......
Why are they all pursuing chips with smaller size and lower heat generation?
In terms of performance, the current mobile phone chip and computer CPU performance is completely enough for everyone to work.
But for the gaming industry, it's not enough.
Many electronic consumer enthusiasts will notice that often these manufacturers will release several comparison charts when competing for performance.
Running xxx games, how many frames to reach is considered smooth.
How long the game runs, how much heat can be controlled.
The most direct embodiment of high-end chips in the civilian market is the support for high-end games, and even the support for the concept of "metaverse" in the future.
In 2018, Spielberg's movie "Ready Player One" described the prototype of a "metaverse" world - an oasis.
In the year 2045, set in the movie, people are flocking to Oasis to escape the chaos of the real world, where they gain a new identity to socialize and have fun.
What VR, AR, MR, these concepts are put forward because it is convenient for people to entertain games.
Matthew Power, a former Amazon executive, once said:
Since games tend to have cutting-edge designs, the advancements we see in technology, internet interactions, and the metaverse all come from this space.
Without the development of the game industry, the demand for semiconductor products such as CPUs and GPUs would certainly not be so strong.
No cloud rendering, Unreal Engine, etc., will be so solid.
According to the report "Game Technology - New Technology Clusters in the Process of Digital-Real Integration" released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2020, game technology contributed 14.9%, 46.3%, and 71.6% to the scientific and technological progress of the chip industry, high-speed communication network industry, and AR/VR industry, respectively.
Tencent also began to announce its self-developed chips in 2021, and on January 19, 2024, according to the announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office, Tencent applied for a control method called "chip, equipment and data operation including fusion multiply-accumulator".
Among China's private enterprises, Tencent has long ranked among the top three in terms of R&D spending.
Focusing on chips not only has a far-reaching layout for its own game industry, but also meets the country's strategic needs for chip technology breakthroughs.
Perhaps seeing the huge potential of the game market, the state has also consciously supported the development of China's game industry in recent years.
First of all, it is allowed to import some foreign game consoles.
Whether it is the national version of the Switch or the legal introduction of PS5, it has really promoted the consumer market.
In 2019, about 50% of Douyin's revenue came from game ads.
Secondly, the mainland has also begun to encourage and support the export of some games.
Tencent's "Glory of Kings" and "Peace Elite" have won the love of players all over the world.
In India, in particular, there are already more than 116 million players, more than in China.
On this basis, Tencent timely implanted a large number of Chinese style elements in the game, such as the New Year's lion dance, the national style arena and so on.
Subtly, let the Chinese elements be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people overseas.
There is also miHoYo's "Genshin Impact", which is also killing all sides in the international market, and even topped the TGA game rankings dominated by Western discourse.
Many foreign players said that they couldn't stop at all.
But in China, in fact, our game market is shrinking.
After the previous control of the underage game market, Tencent's game time for minors in 2022 will drop by 90% year-on-year.
The "Young Chinese Gamers" report released by Niko Partners, an authoritative third-party data agency, also shows that since the introduction of the new "anti-addiction" regulations, the number of underage players in China has decreased by about 39 million.
71% of underage gamers play less than 3 hours per week!
CMGE's financial report also shows that in the first half of 2022, the proportion of underage users' consumption dropped to 0.0029%, a decrease of nearly 90% from last year.
It can be said that the domestic game market has been at the request of the majority of parents, and the speed limit has been reduced to the lowest.
When looking at the game industry, we should look at tomorrow from the day after tomorrow, not from yesterday.
While China restricts the development of the game industry, Europe has introduced laws to encourage the development of the game industry and provide real financial support.
What does it mean to stabilize growth and promote development?
The more we lack economic growth points, we need to activate the elements of innovation, make good use of the advantages of our own game industry, and stimulate its all-round potential for the economy, science and technology, and Chinese cultural output.
Source: Compiled by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
Today, the game industry has entered a period of high-quality development, which is reflected in the continuous high-quality content, the cross-border upgrading of the game industry, and the trend of games going overseas.
Moreover, the change in the country's attitude also shows that after the "tight spell", it is necessary to give the game industry a "shot in the arm".
This is not only a scientific understanding of the game industry, but also a deep-seated demand for economic development.
The game industry can not only rely on the current grand strategy of developing chip integration and the spillover effect of technology to promote science and technology with hard core technology, but also mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole people to "fight the economy" and promote the role of the game industry in the overseas promotion of Chinese stories.
The margin of regulation is improving, and the relevant media is also changing the direction of the wind, affirming the important role of games in the layout of high-tech industries and the activation of the economy.
In this context, the gaming industry also needs a high-quality frenzy.
Integrate your own industry into the main line of economic development, create the multi-faceted value of the game, and let the economy stand up!