Chinese regulators have approved new online games for the first time in nine months, in the first signs the government was easing its crackdown on the previously burgeoning sector.
China’s biggest tech companies, including gaming giant Tencent, have come under heavy regulatory scrutiny over the past two years as the Communist party sought to overhaul the private sector, a move which saw billions wiped off their collective market value.
China’s wealthiest entrepreneurs and leading companies have been targeted as part of a policy called “common prosperity,” which ostensibly aimed to widen opportunities and living conditions for the country’s middle classes. Apart from gaming, other targeted industries included fintech, education and entertainment.