Big American Tech Profits From Chinese Ad Spending Spree

The trade relationship between China and the United States has plenty of friction. But at least one area is booming: Chinese start-ups looking to establish a presence in the West are spending billions of dollars for advertisements on services owned by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest technology companies. Temu, the international arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, is flooding Google with ads for absurdly inexpensive goods. With an initial public offering looming, the fast-fashion merchant Shein is inundating Instagram with ads for clothes and accessories at rock-bottom prices. Developers…

China Appears to Backpedal From Video Gaming Crackdown

Chinese regulators on Tuesday appeared to backpedal from a plan to reduce how much money people spend on online video games, after the proposal had tanked video gaming companies’ stocks and raised doubts about the government’s commitment to reviving China’s slowing economy. The draft rules disappeared from the website of the National Press and Publication Administration, the agency overseeing the proposal, after previously being posted there for public comment. Instead, the page displayed an error. The agency, which issues licenses to game publishers and regulates the industry, did not issue…

Tencent and Netease Rally on Signs China May Ease Gaming Proposal

The stock prices of Chinese video game companies rebounded Wednesday after investors seized on signals that the government was having second thoughts about proposed regulations on gaming. Since the weekend, regulators have attempted to calm the market after shares of the two largest video game companies, Tencent and Netease, plunged on Friday. When trading resumed after the four-day holiday weekend in Hong Kong, Tencent rose about 4 percent and Netease jumped 12 percent, recovering some of their losses. The events of the past several days underline the push-and-pull forces in…

China Unveils New Restrictions on Online Video Games

The Latest Chinese regulators announced new restrictions Friday on online video games, which they said were aimed at tightening the management of the industry and protecting the country’s minors. The proposed rules, which are subject to public comment before being made final, are the latest in several rounds of curbs on the industry over the last few years. The plan would call for users to have spending limits on the game platforms and would prohibit minors from tipping videogame live streamers. The draft rules, issued by the National Press and…

China Proposes ‘Minor Mode’ to Limit Kids’ Smartphone Use

A few years ago, China cracked down on video games. Then, it imposed limits on livestreaming by children. Now China wants them to spend less time on their smartphones. The country’s internet regulator this week proposed regulations that if adopted as written would require smartphones, apps and app stores to build a “minor mode” into their products. The aim is to restrict how long children can spend on their phones and what content they can read or watch. The proposal, which is open for public comment, would expand the Chinese…

World of Warcraft and Other Blizzard Games Will Be Pulled From China

The fallout is unlikely to have a strong impact on the two companies’ bottom lines, said Chenyu Cui, an analyst at the research consultancy Omdia. “NetEase’s online games business has generated more revenue from mobile games,” she said. Other games, such as Naraka Bladepoint, the Westward Journey series and Justice, are its most lucrative products. The company reported that the percentage of total income in 2021 from Blizzard games was in the “low single digits.” The impact on Blizzard also appeared to be limited. Its biggest revenue generator, Diablo Immortal,…

Genshin Impact, Smash Hit From China, Beats Japan at Its Own Game

TOKYO — Genshin Impact, one of the world’s hottest mobile video games, has all the characteristics of a Japanese invention: giant robots; human-size swords; characters with huge eyes and spiky, rainbow-colored hair; and a puzzling fixation on women in maid outfits. There’s just one catch: It’s Chinese. Released in late 2020, the game is the first bona fide international smash hit for China’s video game industry. In its first year on the market, it raked in $2 billion, a record for mobile games, according to Sensor Tower, a firm that…

New Limits Give Chinese E-Gamers Whiplash

Many in China’s gaming industry agree that games have some downsides. The most popular games in the country are made for smartphones and are free to play, meaning the businesses making them live and die based on how well they draw users in and get them to pay for extras. The game makers have become experts at hooking players. But top-down attempts to wean children off games — what state media has called “poison” and “spiritual pollution” — have sometimes been worse than the problem itself. Boot camps fond of…

China Tightens Limits for Young Gamers and Bans School Night Play

China’s strict limits on how long minors can play online video games just got stricter. Chinese children and teenagers are barred from online gaming on school days, and limited to one hour a day on weekend and holiday evenings, under government rules issued Monday. The rules, released by the National Press and Publication Administration, tightened restrictions from 2019 aimed at what the government said was a growing scourge of online game addiction among schoolchildren. Under the old rules, players under the age of 18 were limited to no more than…