Chinese regulators may potentially ban some of the most widely used strategies in the mobile gacha industry, such as login and purchase rewards, pending the approval of a new set of proposals.
The National Press and Publication Administration, overseeing gaming regulations in China, is specifically targeting common game rewards in mobile games designed to encourage player retention.
The proposed restrictions include the elimination of daily login incentives/rewards and restrictions on purchase frequencies, such as “first-time purchase bonuses.”
Other regulations aim to limit currency recharging and provide warnings to players engaging in “irrational consumption behavior.” These practices are often associated with “gacha” games, where players make luck-based purchases for in-game items and rewards through a roulette-like system, a crucial aspect of gameplay progression.
The recently drafted regulations aim to restrain in-game expenditures and shield minors from gaming-related addictive behavior. Open to public input, the draft regulations presented by the National Press and Publication Administration delineate specific limitations on in-game practices fostering excessive spending, especially among minors.
Key provisions include:
- Prohibition of incentive rewards: Daily login bonuses, initial recharge rewards, and consecutive recharge rewards are explicitly prohibited.
- Crackdown on high-priced virtual item trading: Engaging in or permitting exorbitant transactions involving virtual items through hype or auction is strictly forbidden.
- Mandatory user spending limits: Online games are mandated to incorporate user recharge limits, clearly disclosing them in their service rules.
- Stricter controls on minor access and playtime: Game publishers must enforce stringent controls on the time frames and durations during which minors can access online games.
- Robust anti-addiction measures: Game publishers are compelled to establish and uphold comprehensive anti-addiction measures, aiming to prevent excessive play among minors.
Gacha is so prominent now not just for the sake of gambling, the whales and players couldn’t really care less about the actual gambling aspect, rather it’s because it’s these gacha games, typically on the mobile side are the only sorts of modern media entertainment or game-like additions that prominently feature attractive and feminine character designs.
Sex. These gacha games sell you sex, as Japan slowly but surely adheres to Western policies and guidelines about “realistic” depictions of women, and what with the likes of Sony effectively abandoning and abusing the Japanese market, Japan doesn’t really produce high quality gaming titles featuring feminine women.
Which has effectively opened the proverbial border to assault from the likes of China, who make gacha titles such as Arknights, Girls’ Frontline, Azur Lane and Genshin Impact.
While Korea is effectively taking over Japan with the immense popularity with Blue Archive and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, with the Koreans typically having even lower standards for sexualization than the Chinese who aim to censor gacha games developed abroad, such as Blue Archive.
The Chinese seemingly take issue to big hooters, but nevertheless their economy is purposefully inflated by the large amount of whale spenders across Chinese contrived gacha games.
Whether they were made in China or Korea, the immense popularity of these games offering busty babes is evident given how popular Japanese manga / anime IP have been making special limited time appearances boosting profits and payouts across the board for all parties involved, except the player of course.
If implemented, these regulations will directly impact some of the world’s largest mobile games. According to Reuters, major mobile game publisher Netease, responsible for games like Diablo Immortal and Dead By Daylight Mobile, experienced a significant stock loss of up to 25%.
Tencent, a media conglomerate that owns gaming studios worldwide and develops games like Tower of Fantasy and the upcoming Tarisland MMO, also witnessed a stock decline of around 16% at one point (though it has since decreased to about 11%).
The proposed regulations also include rules related to “national security”, requiring servers and game development computers to be located in China. Additionally, games are mandated not to contain state secrets or jeopardize national security, according to the New York Times.
I for one doubt that mobile games with flashy boobs aren’t going to be detrimental to a countries so called trade secrets but that’s just me.
These proposals are not final and may undergo amendments following public and industry feedback periods lasting into late January. China has been actively regulating its gaming industry, implementing measures such as daily gaming time restrictions for minors since 2019 and temporary bans on game submissions during periods of tightened technology industry regulations in 2021 and 2022.
These regulations target concerns in the online gaming industry and prioritize the welfare of minors by:
- Restraining excessive spending: Prohibiting inducement rewards dissuades developers from encouraging spending beyond players’ financial capabilities.
- Combating predatory practices: Imposing restrictions on high-priced virtual item trading prevents publishers from capitalizing on exploitative transactions.
- Safeguarding minors: Implementing stricter controls on access and playtime helps prevent minors from forming unhealthy gaming habits.
- Encouraging responsible gaming: Robust anti-addiction measures guide minors toward cultivating healthy and balanced online gaming habits.
Predicting the global market impact of these rules is challenging. Companies already manage distinct versions of games for China and other regions, making the incorporation of diverse monetization options potentially manageable.
Nevertheless, some of the suggested restrictions appear notably pro-consumer and have the potential to mitigate predatory practices by certain companies, but I for one would be more ecstatic if these predatory gacha games were actual playable games in the first place, similarly to Genshin Impact and Tower of Fantasy, the vast majority of these mobile games can’t really be considered games at all considering how they’re mostly mundane turn based nonsense that simply requires limited user input as you wait for the battle to be over.
I hate the concept of these games entirely, they are predatory, but they are the last sort of option for gamers who wish not to be objectified and scrutinized for being heterosexual. We all just want games, real goddamn games that feature good looking women, not some mundane slop with old hags, fuglies and forced woke inclusive bullshit.
Prior to these rules becoming legislation, the Chinese public has the opportunity to provide comments and advice to the government until January 22, 2024. Subsequently, we will observe the finalized implementations and their execution.
