Chinese gaming regulators have finally granted authorization to two video games produced by Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The approvals are the first Tencent has received for new games in nine months. The approval freeze has contributed to the company’s dramatic fall in valuation in 2018, which is still $150 billion below its peak last January.
There has been a dramatic slowdown in approvals for new games in recent months following a reorganization of China’s censorship apparatus, but it has taken particularly long for authorities to grant licenses to titles by Tencent. Without a license, companies are not permitted to charge money for games.
There is still no word on if or when two internationally popular games, “Fortnite” and “Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds”, will be approved, according to a list published on Thursday by regulators.
Tencent executives blamed the approval freeze for last year’s rare profit decline, as the company was unable to monetize some of its potentially lucrative games. The group’s shares fell 0.9% to 330.20 Hong Kong dollars ($42.08) last Thursday.
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