China's regulators have frozen approvals of game licenses amid a government shake-up, according to people familiar with the matter, throwing the world's biggest gaming market into disarray.
The halt follows a restructuring of power among departments, said the people, who asked not to be named because they don't have approval to discuss the issue publicly. Regulators have also been concerned about violence and gambling in some games, according to one person. Online, mobile and console games have all been affected.
The whole sector has been rattled as gaming companies from online giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. to small developers await approvals. Tencent, the country's gaming and social media goliath, has shed more than $160 billion in market value since its January peak, while smaller players complain they are struggling to survive without new titles.