Chinese regulators continue to restrict gamers in the Middle Kingdom, and companies are forced to follow new laws.
Chinese giant Tencent has reportedly said it will shut down a service that allowed Chinese gamers to access foreign platforms to play foreign games not approved by Chinese regulators. This will be done as a result of stricter regulatory requirements, which are now conducting a more thorough review of the industry. Tencent’s service update is scheduled for May 31.
Tencent first launched a related service in 2018. Such apps act as network acceleration tools that help users improve the speed of their Internet. But not only that.
Unlike most countries, gamers in China are only allowed to play games approved by the government, and they are not allowed to play with foreigners on foreign servers. Although such foreign games are not directly blocked, Internet speeds are usually too slow for normal gameplay. This is where various applications and services come to the rescue, including those developed by Tencent. However, now the Chinese giant is forced to close the loophole.
The move was greeted with dismay by Chinese gamers, but many said it was no surprise.
This is to be expected, given the direction of events. It’s getting harder and harder to be a gamer in China every day
Chinese gamer’s comment on Weibo