Goverment – Page 3 – The Gaming News Corner

China will begin restricting Game Releases to “Reduce strain on kid’s eyes”

China has always been strict on video game releases. As a country with massive censorship and regulations, video games are difficult to release. This month, China started a video game freeze to prevent new game releases which made many studios and developers nervous. China has the highest sale potential outside of the United States. The gaming industry in China was expected to have over $24 billion in revenue in 2018 according to Newzoo. Unfortunately, China recently announced they will start regulating video game releases.

Chinese president, Xi Jinping, stated the game regulations are ruining children’s eyes. A recent growth in myopia (nearsightednesses) in China has caused great concerns. While reports from the BBC and Professors state it may due to excessive studying and lack of sunlight, the Chinese government believe it’s a different goat.

“With a wave of my hand, you will see again!”

The regulations are still blurry at the moment but expect heavier censorship from China. New video game releases will be heavily moderated and limited and reduce the number of online games available. In response to the changes, Tencent’s stock has dropped by 5% in a single day. Tencent is a game publisher in China and they own Riot (League of Legends) and has huge stock in Epic (Fortnite). They were supposed to release Monster Hunter World in China but it was pulled off the market due to “complaints.” The removal may have been due to the proposed video game regulation.

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2K and Blizzard removes Loot Boxes from Belgium and Netherlands

Blizzard (World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heores of the Storm) and 2K (Borderlands, Mafia, NBA 2K series) has removed the micro-transactions portions from their games: Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and NBA 2K18. This is to comply with Belgium and Netherlands’ gambling laws. The countries considers loot box as gambling. 2K’s and Blizzard’s official statement are below.

TL;DR: In Belgium, players can’t purchase MyTeam packs (read: loot boxes) with real money, though they can still be acquired by earning currency in-game. in Netherlands, players will not be able to access Auction House, a feature that allows you to buy and sell your players. (Eurogamer.net) For Blizzard, players can no longer use real money for loot boxes in Overwatch and HoTS.

If you read the statement, 2K and Blizzard disagrees with the banning and believes they are following the law with their initial practices. They actively asked their players to contact the local government to allow their loot box system.

The loot box system is a disgusting and frustrating way to extract more money from players. While more people are growing aware of the unfair practice, there are still many players purchasing loot boxes. Last year, Blizzard earned over $3 billion USD from loot box sales. Often, gaming companies state that loot boxes are to make back the expenses from development.

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Overwatch Hacker sent to Jail

Throughout the world, people are arguing about whether playing video games are an addiction. In South Korea, they tackle real gaming problems like hackers online. A man is being sent to jail for 12 months for creating an Overwatch hack. The main reason for going to jail is because he made a profit of $180,000 from hacking. That violates South Korea’s Game Industry Promotion Law and the Information and Communication Technology Protection Law.

Overwatch hack creators face a probation period and a fine but earning a profit will earn you jail time. They will also receive a two-year probation. In 2016, Korea criminalized creation and distribution of aimbots, wall hacks, and more cheating services. Over 13 cheaters were arrested in 2017. Korea takes gaming and competitive gaming incredibly serious as professional gamers are treated as celebrities. Even Chinese players face huge fines and jail time for hacking. 15 people were fined $5.1 million for creating and selling hacks for PUBG.

As gaming becomes more popular throughout the world, expect laws to be enabled similar to Asia. In most regions, hackers and spam creators are banned but rarely face any harsh punishments or fines. However, it requires the government to take a serious look at gaming and not treat it as a toy.

Sources:

PC Gamer

Criminalizing Hacking

Hacking fines