On December 22, the winter solstice, the game industry suffered a huge earthquake.
On the same day, the National Press and Publication Administration issued a draft of the Measures for the Administration of Online Games, restricting the excessive use and high consumption of games, which stipulates that online games shall not set up inducing rewards such as daily login, first recharge, and continuous recharge.
In the view of Yijian Finance, this is another "gate" for the game industry by the regulatory authorities, and the signal behind it is also very obvious.
The timing of the release of the "New Game Rules" is very special.
On the morning of December 22nd, ** just closed in the morning, the "new game regulations" were released, and the industry exclaimed, game industry practitioners, investors, and ** all felt very sudden and had a feeling of being caught off guard.
Generally speaking, the policy documents issued by the regulatory authorities that may have a significant impact on the market will be selected on Friday afternoon, after the market, to try to avoid the policy having a significant impact on the capital market.
In addition, before the release of many important policies, there will be some "omens" in the market, which often appear in the form of so-called "rumors" and "small essays", but this time there are none. Some people bluntly said that this time "the secrecy work has been done to the extreme".
More importantly, before the release of the "New Game Regulations", the domestic game industry was on the way to recovery.
According to the "2023 China Game Industry Report" released last week, the actual sales revenue of China's game market in 2023 will be 30296.4 billion, an increase of 3708 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1395%, exceeding 300 billion for the first time. The number of users of the game reached 66.8 billion people, a record high.
In addition, as of December 13**, gaming giant NetEase Hong Kong** was worth HK$542.5 billion, surpassing Meituan to become China's fourth-largest internet company by market capitalization, behind Tencent, Pinduoduo and Alibaba.
In the third quarter, NetEase's revenue was 27.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%. Among them, the revenue of the core business of games and related value-added services increased by 16% year-on-year5% to $21.8 billion.
It is precisely because there is no "omen" that as soon as the market opens in the afternoon, game stocks are all brushed up, among which NetEase once fell by nearly 30%, setting a record for the most ** decline, Tencent once fell by more than 15%, Bilibili fell by more than 10%, and there are many game stocks that fall directly to the limit.
Yijian Finance noticed that there are two main mainstream views on the "new game regulations": one is that it is a "critical attack" on the game industry, especially game stocks have been hit hard;Another view is that restricting the game industry is beneficial to the country and the people.
The first view is mainly held by investors and practitioners, and the "new rules of the game" have the greatest impact on the interests of this part.
Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, said that the pros and cons of the document's pros and cons, and whether measures should be taken to mitigate the impact, deserve further evaluation by relevant authorities. "*A little bit of warmth just now was poured cold water again."
Ichimi Finance noticed that as the former editor-in-chief of the official **, many of Hu Xijin's remarks were on the official position and were consistent, but this time he raised objections.
Hu Xijin announced in June this year that although the amount of funds invested is very limited, it has become one of the most influential in China, and he is currently losing about 50,000 yuan.
In addition to Hu Xijin, many investors who are heavily invested in game stocks have lost a lot of money, so there are not a few people who complain about the "new rules of the game".
Yao Kee Technology, a game industry company, said that if the draft is passed, it is estimated that the impact on the entire game sector and industry will be greatThe staff of Kaiying Network pointed out that the impact of the new regulations cannot be assessed at present, and game recharge and advertising are the company's main income.
However, Tencent, the largest game company in China, responded very "generously".
Zhang Wei, vice president of Tencent Games, said that the new draft does not fundamentally change the game's business model, operation rhythm and other key elements. It is believed that the Draft Opinions will be more conducive to the orderly and healthy development of the game industry.
However, in the eyes of many non-industry professionals and investors, the new game regulations restrict the development of the game industry, which is beneficial to the country and the people in the long run, especially to the growth of young people.
In the view of Yijian Finance, the regulatory authorities must have assessed the impact of the "new game regulations" on the capital market and the game industry, but the intention of why it was suddenly released is obvious.
The last time the regulator "restricted travel" was on August 30, 2021, at the end of the summer vacation, and clearly stated that all online game companies could only do so on the week.
Five, week. 6. On Sundays and statutory holidays, a one-hour service is provided to minors from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The focus of this "travel restriction" is to protect minors, and it has played a significant role.
According to the financial report released by Tencent, in the first quarter of this year, the game time and turnover of minors accounted for only 04% and 0 of the total turnover7%, down 96% and 90% respectively from the same period three years ago.
According to the "Chinese Young Gamers" report released by Niko Partners, a research agency, the number of underage gamers in China has decreased by 39 million.
Despite this, there are still many minors who bypass the restrictions through various means and become addicted to the game, with players topping up hundreds of thousands or even millions. According to the report, 29% of underage gamers still spend more than three hours a week.
Therefore, the "new game rules" released this time are also a loophole, mainly to restrict players from excessive consumption in terms of amount, so as not to cause financial losses.
From a deeper level, the "new rules of the game" also conform to the spirit of the first economic work conference.
The ** Economic Work Conference, which ended on December 12, put forward nine key tasks for promoting high-quality development in 2024, among which "leading the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation" was put in the first place, while last year's top priority was "expanding domestic demand".
The meeting proposed that it is necessary to promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially to promote new industries, new models and new kinetic energy with disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies, and to develop new quality productive forces.
Obviously, games are not on the list. However, among the top five Internet companies in China by market capitalization, there are two game companies, Tencent and NetEase, and they have made few breakthroughs in disruptive technology and cutting-edge technology research.
It can be seen that the regulator's expectation for Internet companies is not only to innovate in business models and make "quick money" and "easy money", but to go to the sea of stars and scientific and technological innovation, and have hard-core scientific and technological achievements.
At first sight, this is the real trend, and it is also the direction that Internet companies should strive for.
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