• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Chinese government working on regulations to curb excessive spending on gaming.

Pejo

Gold Member
Essentially they're trying to curb the predatory monetization that a lot of companies (like Tencent) are allowed to do, particularly for minors. This will have huge effects on particularly the 'gacha' game model, but a lot of those predatory practices have made their way into full retail games now as well. There will most likely be ramifications outside of the CN region as well.

A few highlights are removing "daily login bonuses" and "top up bonuses" for fake currency, along with making all RNG and gacha items available as direct purchases.

Translated version by DeepL and quoted because it's a LOT of reading.
State Press and Publication Administration: online games shall not set up daily login, first charge and other induced rewards, live shall not be a high amount of bounty

2023/12/22 11:29:35

IT home December 22 news, the State Press and Publication Administration today released "online game management approach (draft for comment)", is now open to the public for comment.

The document mentions that online games shall not set up daily login, first recharge, continuous recharge and other inducing rewards. Online game publishing and operating units shall not provide or condone the behavior of trading virtual props at high prices in the form of speculation and auction. All online games shall set user recharge limits, which shall be publicized in their service rules, and shall provide pop-up window warning reminders for irrational user spending behavior.

After the announcement, NetEase fell more than 10% on the plate, with a turnover of more than 700 million Hong Kong dollars, and Tencent once fell more than 6%.

IT home attached "network game management measures" (draft for comment) key content:

Article XVII [prohibit mandatory battles] network game publishing and management units shall not set up mandatory battles in network games.

Article 18 [Restrictions on excessive use of the game and high consumption] network games shall not be set up daily login, the first recharge, continuous recharge and other induced rewards.

Online game publishing and operating units shall not provide or condone high-priced trading behavior of virtual props in the form of speculation and auction.

All online games shall set user recharge limits, and shall be publicized in its service rules, and shall provide pop-up window warning reminders for irrational consumption behavior of users.

Article 22 [real name registration] network game publishing and operating units in the agreement with the user or provide services, shall require users to provide real identity information. Users do not provide real identity information, network game publishing and management units shall not provide relevant services. Shall strictly implement the user's real name registration and login requirements to ensure that the user's identity information is true and effective.

Article 23 [game coin distribution norms] engaged in network game coin distribution activities, shall comply with the following provisions:

(A) the scope of use of network game coins is limited to the exchange of its own network game products and services, shall not be used for payment, purchase of physical goods or exchange for other units of products and services;

(ii) The issuance of online game coins shall not be for the purpose of maliciously occupying the user's prepaid funds, and the criteria for the issuance and purchase of online game coins shall be transparent and reasonable;

(C) shall not provide users with network game coins exchange services for legal tender, network game publishing and operating units to terminate the provision of network game products and services, in legal tender or other means accepted by the user to return the user has not yet used the network game coins, except the case;

(d) Preserve the purchase records of network game users, and the preservation period shall not be less than 2 years from the date of the user's single acceptance of the service.

Article 24 [Specifications on Game Coin Transactions] Engaged in online game coin transaction services, shall comply with the following provisions:

(A) shall not provide trading services for unauthorized network games;

(ii) Real-name digital RMB wallets shall be used to engage in online game coin trading, and anonymous digital RMB wallet trading services shall not be provided to users;

(iii) Technical measures shall be taken to effectively supervise the transaction process, and transactions involving illegal and suspicious behavior shall be reported to the relevant authorities in a timely manner, so as to avoid facilitating illegal behavior such as online gambling and online fraud;

(D) received notice from interested parties, government departments, judicial organs, shall assist in verifying the legality of the transaction behavior, verified as illegal transactions, shall immediately take measures to terminate the transaction services and save the relevant records;

(e) The preservation of transaction records and accounting records and other information between users shall not be less than 2 years from the date of occurrence of a single transaction.

Article 25 [game coin issuance and trading enterprise norms] The same enterprise shall not operate online game coin issuance and online game coin trading services at the same time.

Article 26 [network game virtual props issued and trading norms] network game publishing and operating units issued or change network game virtual props, should be timely in the network game's official home page or the game in a prominent position to publicize the relevant information, the issuance and purchase standards should be transparent and reasonable.

Network game publishing and operating units shall not exchange the virtual props of network games obtained by users for legal tender, and provide users with virtual props of network games to exchange for small amounts of physical goods, the content and value of physical goods should be in line with the provisions of relevant national laws and regulations.

Network game publishing and operating units for the user trading network game virtual props to provide platform services, in accordance with Article 24 of this approach on the network game coin trading regulations.

Network game publishing and management units issued by the user to the legal car

Article 27 [random sampling] network game publishing and operating units in the provision of random sampling services, the number of times, the probability of sampling to make reasonable settings, shall not induce network game users to excessive consumption. At the same time should provide users with virtual props exchange, the use of network game coins directly purchased and other ways to obtain the same performance of virtual props and value-added services.

Article 28 [Prohibition of Payment Services for Illegal Games] No entity shall provide payment services for illegal online games and illegal online game operations.

Article 29 [publicity and promotion norms] for online games to provide publicity and promotion services for the unit, should check the relevant documents of the service object, check the content of the advertisement, shall not be published in the content does not match or incomplete supporting documents of online game advertisements. The online game live broadcast shall not appear high reward. The publicity and promotion of online games shall not contain the contents listed in Article 16 of these Measures and other prohibited contents by laws and regulations.

Article 30 [found illegal content processing and reporting] online game publishing and management units should strengthen the management of information release, the user in the game released information content shall be strictly implemented information security audits, illegal information shielding filtering and other systems and measures, found that there are illegal content in the online game should be immediately deleted, save the relevant records, and to the local county-level publishing department above the report.

For online games published illegal information on the user, online game publishing and management unit shall, in accordance with the law, stop providing relevant services, save the relevant records, and report to the competent publishing department above the county level.

Article 31 [network information and personal information security protection] network game publishing and operating units shall, in accordance with laws and administrative regulations to take measures to ensure network information security, according to the protection of state secrets, commercial secrets and personal information of users.

Network game publishing and operating units shall follow the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and good faith in handling users' personal information through the network, publicize the special rules for handling, expressly state the purpose, manner and scope of handling, and inform the relevant matters stipulated by laws and administrative regulations in accordance with the law.

Article 32 [Anti-Monopoly and Anti-Unfair Competition] Online game publishing and operating units shall not engage in monopolistic and unfair competition practices that impede the order of fair competition in the market.

If an online game publishing and operating unit violates the relevant laws and regulations to implement monopolistic behavior, it shall be dealt with by the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency in accordance with the law.

Article 33 [user agreements and network game rules] network game publishing and operating units shall follow the principle of fairness and impartiality, and users to sign service agreements, clear service rules, user rights and interests, personal information protection and other rights and obligations.

Article 34 [Dispute Resolution] network game publishing and management units shall protect the legitimate rights and interests of network game users, and provide services on the website prominently announced dispute resolution. If the two parties fail to resolve the dispute through consultation, they may apply for arbitration or file a lawsuit with the People's Court in accordance with the law.

Article 35 [Credit System] The competent state publishing department establishes a credit system for online games, puts illegal online game publishers and operators on a warning list, implements a linkage penalty mechanism for pre-approval and post-supervision, and implements credit constraints on illegal online game publishers and operators and the relevant responsible persons.

Article 36 [termination of operation] online game publishing and operating units to terminate the publication, operation of online games, should be announced at least 60 days in advance, and to the local provincial publishing authorities for cancellation procedures, the provincial publishing authorities reported to the national publishing authorities for the record. Network game users have not yet used the network game coins and game services have not yet expired, network game operators should be in accordance with the proportion of the user's purchase, the legal tender returned to the user or the user to accept other ways to return.

Online games are deemed to be terminated if the service is interrupted for more than 30 consecutive days due to stoppage of service access, technical failure and other reasons of the online game operator.

Article 39 [Time Periods, Hours and Consumption Requirements] Online game publishers and operators shall, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, comply with the following provisions:

(a) Strictly control the time period and duration of minors' use of online games;

(ii) Minors shall be prohibited from logging in to games that are likely to lead to indulgence and where there is content unsuitable for minors to use;

(iii) Strictly enforcing the restrictive requirements on the provision of paid services to minors, reasonably limiting the amount of consumption by minors of different ages in the use of its services, and shall not provide minors with paid services that are incompatible with their civil behavioral capacity;

(d) It shall not provide minors with account rental and sale, game currency and virtual props trading services, as well as third-party services such as accompanying trainers and substitute players;

(v) Randomization services shall not be provided to minors;

(vi) Online game live broadcasts shall not show minors rewarding;

(vii) The handling of minors' personal information shall comply with relevant laws and regulations;

(h) There shall be no other online game business behaviors that are detrimental to the health of minors.

Article 40 [anti-sedimentation system] network game publishing and operating units shall establish and improve the anti-sedimentation system, shall not provide minors with products and services that induce them to become addicted, promptly modify the content, functions or rules that may cause minors to become addicted, provide user-oriented anti-sedimentation report acceptance services, and annually announce to the community the anti-sedimentation work, accept social supervision.

Article 41 [identity verification of minors] network game publishing and operating units shall verify the real identity information of minor users through the unified electronic identity authentication system for minors network games and other necessary means.

Article 42 [age-appropriate tips] network game publishing and operating units shall establish and improve the prevention of minors addicted to the network of the game rules, to avoid minors access to the game content or game features that may affect their physical and mental health.

Network game publishing and operating units shall implement the requirements of age-appropriate tips, according to the physical and mental development characteristics and cognitive ability of minors of different ages, through the assessment of the type of game products, content and functions and other elements, classification of game products, clear game products suitable for the age of minors, and in the user download, registration, login interface and other locations to be notable tips.

Article 43 [Guardian's Responsibility] Parents or other guardians shall, in accordance with the law, fulfill their guardianship responsibilities for minors, guide minors to use online games in a healthy and reasonable manner, engage in activities beneficial to their physical and mental health, develop good living habits, set up a correct concept of consumption of online games, and prevent and curb minors from becoming addicted to online games, and at the same time improve their own network literacy, standardize their own use of online games, and strengthen their supervision of minors' use of online games. At the same time, they should improve their own network quality, regulate their own behavior in using online games, and strengthen the guidance and supervision of minors' behavior in using online games.

Article 44 [Responsibility of all sectors of society] Schools shall, in accordance with the characteristics of the physical and mental development of underage students, educate and guide students to use online games in a healthy and reasonable manner, and strengthen communication and cooperation with the parents or other guardians of underage students to prevent underage students from becoming addicted to online games, and if they find that underage students have become addicted to online games, they shall inform their parents or other guardians of this in a timely manner, and work together to educate and guide underage students. (c) To guide.

Schools, communities, libraries, cultural centers, youth centers and other places that provide Internet access service facilities for minors shall install software for the protection of minors' networks or take other technical measures for safety protection. Internet access service establishments may not accept minors.

Online game publishing and operating units shall take practical measures to improve the time management, consumption management and other functions of online games, and to facilitate the fulfillment of relevant duties by guardians and schools.

Relevant industry organizations shall formulate industry self-regulatory norms regarding the online protection of minors, and guide their members to strengthen the online protection of minors. Social organizations, professional bodies and enterprises and institutions are encouraged and supported to participate in efforts to prevent minors from becoming addicted to online games.

CN Source:
 

Chechack

Member
Hopefully this will improve pity rate of games like genshins etc

As much as the game is fun and can be played for free,sometimes having the pity 50/50 or need to pull 50+ to get is kinda bad
 

This Bloomberg article explains it pretty well. They want to stop companies from giving rewards for daily logins, my body is ready. I fucking hate that shit. They also want to place lifetime spending caps per player in a game, that would fucking disembowel so many companies and I'm here for it
 
Last edited:

Soodanim

Member
I wonder just how much some of the bigger companies will be affected. Will they changes things outside of China to compensate? How many don't operate in China at all?
 

Krieger

Member
The moment lootboxes, log-in-bonuses, premium currency and shit like that disappear is when something even worse gets implemented. I can already see CoD or FIFA forcing players to pay for the best guns/players, but you can only use them for 24 hours and after that you need to pay again, over and over.
 
Parents should parent and grown ups should grow up.
Imho protecting morons from their own stupidity should not be the job of governments.
But whatever. If it is against evil megacorps people seem to be willing to let go of their own freedoms and responsibilites.
Next up, monitoring your health decisions and food intake. I guess with their social score stuff, China is already close to that also.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
I love how both Europe and China are slowly closing the noose on this practice but America is still all

tenor.gif
 

Hollowpoint5557

A Fucking Idiot
I remember gaming for 30 years without these stupid microtransaction and predatory practices so I'm pretty sure the industry will be fine. The trash will burn and the best of the best will remain. This is a good thing to me.
 

Goalus

Member

This Bloomberg article explains it pretty well. They want to stop companies from giving rewards for daily logins, my body is ready. I fucking hate that shit. They also want to place lifetime spending caps per player in a game, that would fucking disembowel so many companies and I'm here for it
While they're at it, they should also forbid companies to sell more than a certain amount of units of their products. So if some product hits the sales cap established by the government, it needs to be phased out.
 
Yeah, in China.

Meanwhile Chinese companies can push all the garbage they want on everyone else.
That's literally how Douyin works in China compared to TikTok internationally. Within China, Douyin is as heavily censored and controlled as any other social media, but outside of China, TikTok is being used to destroy Western civilization by rotting it from within with dramatically effective results.
 
Last edited:

Topher

Identifies as young
Let them crash then.

If that's the only way they are able to sustain themselves then they are not worthy participants in the industry.

That's what I was going to post. A crash every now and then is a good thing when an industry is so overly bloated and yet their stockholders demand increased profits every quarter. So what do companies do? Cut dev budgets, jack up transactions and produce nothing but shit.

If the choice is that or a crash.....fucking crash.
 
Last edited:

hinch7

Member
Wild that the Chinese goverments of all is willing to rein in on gacha type games. About time.. now lets hope other countries catches on.
 
Yeah the daily grind in some of these games have gotten out of hand just make a good game and stand on it instead resorting to all of these tricks to keep people playing and buying crappy micro transactions
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
That's literally how Douyin works in China compared to TikTok internationally. Within China, Douyin is as heavily censored and controlled as any other social media, but outside of China, TikTok is being used to destroy Western civilization by rotting it from within with dramatically effective results.
Yup, I recall for kids in China they are promoted educational content on their equivalent on Tiktok and have a daily use restriction and are prompted to take breaks. I dread to think about the absolute degenerate filth a lot of kids absorb on Tiktok in Western countries.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Just caught the bbc article on this


Online games must not offer rewards that entice people to excessively play and spend, including those for daily logins and topping up accounts with additional funds, said the industry regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA).
 

Dorfdad

Gold Member
What I want to happen is that what I felt should have happened when these mtx games started. They are launched as free to play games. So mtx should be allowed but only up to the cost of the game as a retail product. So maybe 2-3 hours for free than you can purchase extended time / levels etc.

For games as a service models. The game is free but like mmorpg you can pay a flat fee for the the month / year. Or you can pay for individual options characters. It they have to be the he same as subscription users get.

Also no dlc or character should be considered pay to win.

Otherwise Screw all these games I’m trending back towards solo / co op experiences because of this crap
 

Bkdk

Member
The biggest reason for excessive spending in many china or asian launched games is primarily due to western devs refuse to make sexualized female chars. Gamers are forced to turn to many of these asian titles if they want better character design in games, giving many of these asian launched titles a rather strong pricing power. When would the western AAA devs finally wake up to the reality that gamers love sexualized girl chars so there would be more competition in the market and lower the overall price? These journalists in the west are just a small yet extremely loud minority.
 
Top Bottom