Tencent has launched a video game designed for the visually impaired, less than one year after the Chinese government said it was worried about how online gaming was affecting children’s vision.
The Chinese tech giant’s shares plummeted last year as Beijing, irked by the addictive nature of gaming and its impact on children’s eyesight, halted approval of commercial licences for online games for nine months. Before the restrictions, gaming accounted for more than 40 per cent of Tencent’s revenues.
While the Chinese media regulator resumed commercial licensing in December, there has been a backlog of titles awaiting approval, and the games approved so far have largely been from smaller studios, rather than Tencent and its bigger rivals.