China cracks down on livestreaming of ‘unauthorized’ games

China has signaled it will begin actively enforcing regulation that forbids the livestreaming of unauthorized games. Per Reuters, the country’s National Radio and Television Administration said on Friday all internet platforms are “strictly forbidden” from streaming titles that the government has not approved.

China’s regulation around video games continues to focus on compliance and enforcement.

Games have always required a license before they can be distributed or streamed in China. The latter was rarely enforced. Now it will be. https://t.co/gRZeSQ6hLX

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) April 15, 2022

According to video game industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, China has always required that games be officially licensed before they can be distributed or streamed within the country, but it rarely enforced the latter ban. That behavior allowed games such as Elden Ring, a title that’s not officially approved for sale in China, to find substantial audiences on platforms like Huya. Ahmad notes that FromSoftware’s latest garnered approximately 17 million cumulative daily average viewers in its first week of release.

“What this means in practice is that unless your game is approved by the [National Radio and Television Administration], it is going to be very difficult for it to get visibility via live streaming, short video, advertisement or other platforms [and] channels,” Ahmad said.

China has become increasingly tough on video games in recent years. Last summer, the country began enforcing a three-hour weekly limit on the amount of time children can play online video games. At the time of the ban, a state-owned news outlet described the medium as “spiritual opium.” The National Radio and Television Administration employed similar rhetoric, claiming issues like teenage addiction necessitated the need for urgent action on video game livestreaming.