**: Beijing Youth Daily.
After the "Measures for the Administration of Online Games (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" sparked heated discussions in the society, the National Press and Publication Administration made the latest response.
On December 23, the relevant person in charge of the National Press and Publication Administration said that the draft for comments is "based on ensuring and promoting the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry", and the opinions of relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises and other parties were widely listened to in various ways during the drafting process. The concerns and opinions raised by all parties on Articles 17, 18 and other contents of the Draft for Comments will be carefully studied, and will be further revised and improved on the basis of continuing to listen to the opinions of relevant departments, enterprises, users and other parties.
In this consultation draft, game stocks fell sharply (Tencent's stock price fell 12.).348%, NetEase shares fell 24598%), the National Press and Publication Administration responded to the concerns in a timely manner, making it clear that the original intention of the policy was to "protect and promote the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry", which obviously helped to dispel many people's doubts and enhance the confidence of the industry.
Only when there is a basic consensus can there be stable expectations. At present, "ensuring and promoting the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry" should be the consensus of all parties in society on the game industry. To a large extent, the official statement that it wants to "protect and promote the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry" is to guide more people to look at the deep-seated value of the game industry more comprehensively.
For a long time in the past, many people's cognition of gamers stayed at the level of pastime tools and entertainment methods, and thus produced a narrow understanding and negative cognition. Today, more and more people have realized that the value of games is not only "play", but also rich in connotation and extension: online games are not only the "ninth art" integrating sound, light, color and art, but also a new carrier of cultural communication with games as the body and culture as the backbone, as well as a cultural and technological integration industry with both humanistic capacity and scientific and technological content.
It should be noted that in the context of technological change and the integration of data and reality, and in the context of continuous breakthroughs in key technologies such as AI and chips, the value of online games is becoming more and more prominent. A few days ago, the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association and the Industrial Culture Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly released the "Super Digital Scene Source Power - Research on Game Technology and Innovation Application", which made it clear that super digital scenes have become the essential attributes of games, and game technology is helping the transformation and application innovation of digital and real integration in various industries through spillover promotion and empowerment support, and releasing huge digital productivity in more and more extensive social production fields.
The report also calculates the contribution rate of game technology to cross-industry scientific and technological progress in 2022, showing that the contribution rate of game technology to the scientific and technological progress of chips, AI, cloud computing, mobile phones and other industries has reached76%。It is precisely because of the digital productivity in games that the European Parliament promulgated 38 "New Policies for Games" as a symbol, and the world's major economies are making forward-looking layouts for the game industry at the level of developing cutting-edge technology.
At this time, it is particularly important to "ensure and promote the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry", create a good environment for the development of the game industry, and consolidate the dominant position of China's game industry in the global industrial structure.
to ensure and promote the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry", the logical basis is the full recognition of the value of games. Only by allowing the healthy and prosperous development of the game industry can it play a role in boosting the real power of China's economy, the hard power of science and technology, and the soft power of culture, and the value of helping to cultivate an innovative ecology and export high-quality culture.
That's not to say that the negative externalities that are emerging in the gaming industry don't need to be regulated. Over the years, in the prevention of minors' game addiction, the regulatory level and the game industry have made joint efforts and taken multiple measures, and under the promotion of the "830 New Regulations", which is known as the "strictest in history" anti-addiction regulations, China's game industry has established the world's most standardized game anti-addiction system.
Data to corroborate: Tencent's financial report for the first quarter of 2023 shows that minors account for only 0 percent of game time and turnover4% and 07%, a significant decrease of 96% and 90% from the same period in 2020. After taking industry-leading measures to protect minors, the proportion of local minors playing games has remained extremely low for a long time. The number of underage players and the length of games played by other game manufacturers have also dropped significantly.
After the release of the draft for comments, a number of leading domestic game companies responded. Zhang Wei, vice president of Tencent Games, responded, "Since the release of the new regulations in 2021, Tencent has been strictly implementing the management requirements, and the game time and consumption data of minors are currently at the lowest level in history. The draft of the new management measures does not fundamentally change the key elements such as the reasonable business model and operation rhythm of games." Zhang Wei believes that the new version of the management measures has clarified the support attitude for the industry, especially in encouraging high-quality original games. NetEase also responded today that the game industry has made great progress in key areas such as the protection of minors in the past few years, and this draft is mainly to make up for the lack of relevant management measures after 2019.
It is said that "regulation is for better development", and for many industries, including online games, "regulation" is the means, and promoting "better development" is the goal. If China's game industry has made great strides in the past few years, then the next new regulations should also be the driving force for the game industry to "move from great progress to greater progress, from prosperity to greater prosperity".
It should also be noted that the introduction of policies will inevitably trigger various social feedbacks, and soliciting opinions is an opportunity to re-study and re-evaluate based on the feedback. Focusing on long-term development, listening to the opinions of multiple parties, and striving to reduce the "instantaneous impact" of policies is the proper meaning of the policy from improvement to perfection.
The relevant person in charge of the State Press and Publication Administration mentioned in the response that "the departmental rules are open to the public to solicit opinions is a process of listening to opinions more widely and improving the rules and regulations", and will carefully study the hot content, and further revise and improve it on the basis of continuing to listen to the opinions of relevant departments, enterprises, users and other parties. This reserves enough space for the continued improvement of the policy, and is also in line with the public's expectations for scientific decision-making and policy implementation - only by improving the improvement on the basis of extensive listening to public opinion can the greatest common divisor be gathered, so that the policy orientation is "aligned" with the people's aspirations and the high-quality development of the industry.
Promoting the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry is the direction that the regulators, the game industry, and society all aspire to. By working together in this direction, China's online game industry will surely go better and further.