Tencent and NetEase share tank after Chinese media call the game ‘opium’

GUANGZHOU, China – Shares of Tencent and NetEase plunged Tuesday after Chinese state media called online games “opium” and compared them to a drug.

The article also called for additional restrictions on the industry to prevent drug addiction and other negative impacts on children.

Tencent fell about 10% in the morning while NetEase was down nearly 14% in Hong Kong. Tencent is one of the largest games companies in the world, responsible for large-scale games like “Honor of Kings”.

NetEase declined to comment. Tencent was not immediately available for comment.

The Economic Information Daily article, a Chinese state publication affiliated with the Xinhua Official Journal, said that online game addiction among children is “widespread” and could negatively impact their growth.

The article says that in 2020, more than half of Chinese children were nearsighted and that online games are affecting their education.

The sentiment in the article is not that new. The Chinese government has long been concerned about the impact of video games on minors.

In 2018, Beijing froze new game approvals over concerns that games were impacting the eyesight of young people. In China, online games require regulatory approval.

In 2019, China introduced rules prohibiting those under the age of 18 from playing online games between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and limiting the time they could play.

The article also called for more control over the length of time children play games and to review game content more strictly to reduce the amount of “incorrect” information presented to minors.

“For the next step, there should be tighter controls on how long minors play online games. It should be significantly reduced from the current level,” the article said, according to a CNBC translation. .

Both NetEase and Tencent have introduced measures to protect young players, including real name registrations to play games. Last month, Tencent introduced a facial recognition feature on smartphones to verify that the player is an adult.