IMAGINE losing US$80 billion (RM370 billion) in the blink of an eye. That is exactly what two of China’s biggest gaming companies faced towards the end of last December.
On Dec 22, Chinese Communist Party Publicity Department head of publishing Feng Shixin announced new controversial gaming laws aimed at limiting spending on video games, primarily by cracking down on micro-transaction practices.
In the next 24 hours, the laws led to an almost US$80 billion (RM371 billion) sell-off in China’s gaming market. China’s biggest gaming company, Tencent, saw its shares drop as much as 16%, while the country’s second biggest company, NetEase, dropped as much as 25%.
Almost two weeks later, Reuters exclusively reported on Jan 3 that its sources had claimed Feng had been removed from his position at the Publicity Department, which plays a critical role in regulating China’s video game sector.
At the time of this article’s writing, the Chinese government has not officially announced his departure. Feng’s removal is believed to be due to the controversy surrounding the new regulations and its aftermath, which led to the country’s video game industry’s catastrophic drop in value.
