No new games approved for Chinese release in May

pcgamesinsider.biz:

No new games were given the thumbs up to release in China last month.

That's according to the South China Morning Post, which reports that the country's content approval agency – The National Press and Publication Administration – has not issued a list of games deemed appropriate for release in the region for May.

Until April, when 45 games were approved for release, there had been an eight-month freeze on licensing in China. There had previously been a nine-month freeze back in 2018, too.

In January, it was reported that around 14,000 Chinese games companies had gone bust in the previous six months due to a lack of approvals.

This comes as the Chinese government brings in tighter and tighter restrictions on the tech and games industries amid concerns about addiction and mental health. Last year, a state-controlled newspaper described video games as "spiritual opium" before tighter controls were introduced, stipulating how much time minors could spend playing games.

Over 200 companies in China signed a commitment to self regulate on this mental health front.

The NPPA has also introduced tighter restrictions on what content is allowed in China.