The repression against video games in China is becoming increasingly fierce. In a very tense context, Baidu should therefore significantly reduce its investments in this area and lay off a hundred employees. Worse, the Chinese company could also end its ties with third-party studios around the world.
An anti-video game policy
Video games and China have definitely gotten along badly in recent years. In 2021, in fact, the country has taken a series of measures to combat the practice of video games among the youngest. Playing time is thus limited to three hours for every citizen under the age of 18, while the new licenses have simply been suspended since last July.
The aim of these measures? Reduce the risk of addiction among minors. Several local studies and, let’s be specific, some media pressure, led the authorities to see video games as a deep scourge of contemporary society. And if the consumption of the medium is now largely restricted, this also has consequences from an economic point of view.
So the video game activity of Baidu, which for a time presented itself as Google of China, should pay the price. Several Chinese sources close to the company report that a hundred employees will be laid off. A decision made at the end of December 2021 and which seems to be announced to the employees concerned over the weeks.
At the same time, the company has also terminated or suspended contracts with third-party studios. An approach that inevitably affects ongoing projects, some of which are well advanced. Or the equivalent of a dead loss for the company.
A message that unfortunately does not only concern Baidu, since other Chinese players are also said to be downsizing. Kuaishou, ByteDance (TikTok) are revising down their ambitions to penetrate the video game market, while Tencent seems to be intact for the time being, mainly thanks to assets and a strategy particularly focused on the international market. Overall, some Chinese industrial giants are likely to lose billions of dollars in the coming months.
