Gaming giants lose $60 billion on China's sermon against profit

Regulators slow down nod for new online games; warning against metaverse stocks, too

Tencent Holdings and Netease shed more than $60 billion of value as investor fears grow that Chinese regulators are preparing to tighten their grip dramatically on the world’s largest gaming industry.
 
Chinese regulators summoned industry executives to a Wednesday meeting to instruct them to break their “solitary focus” on profit and prevent minors from becoming addicted to games, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
 
Regulators also said China will slow down approvals for all new online games, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday, updating an earlier report that said there was a freeze on approvals.