Over the years, we’ve seen the Chinese government clamp down on online gaming, which includes limiting the amount of time children can spend playing games and the constant dissemination of information emphasizing how addictive gaming is. Recently, Chinese regulators announced new restrictions aimed at introducing spending limits across gaming platforms and even preventing minors from tipping game streamers. These were implemented by the National Press and Publications Administration. Shortly after the announcement, several companies, including gaming giants Tencent and NetEase, were forced to bear the brunt of the announcement as…

As the demand for content continues to soar, the often overlooked individuals responsible for bringing movie superheroes to life and creating the iconic sounds of lightsabers are increasingly seeking support from labor unions. These individuals, who perform crucial behind-the-scenes work, are finding that their once dream-like jobs have transformed into exhausting and demanding routines. The unionization trend that started last year with an independent game studio is gaining momentum as video streaming services compete for subscribers and video game makers try to keep players engaged. The latest moves come from…

In October, Roblox, a gaming company, intends to introduce its immersive digital worlds platform on Sony’s PlayStation devices. This move will grant them access to the vast user base of the world’s most popular gaming consoles, which amounts to hundreds of millions of people. Roblox is also making its app fully available for Meta’s Quest mixed devices this month, after releasing a beta version in July. This version was downloaded over a million times in five days, the company said in a blog post. The expansion is part of a…

After being banned for a year and a half, Sea Ltd. is reintroducing one of its popular mobile games in India, which is expected to greatly contribute to the internet company’s revival of growth. Now called Free Fire India, the game will be available on September 5, Sea’s gaming division Garena said in a statement on Thursday. Partner Yotta, a unit of India’s Hiranandani Group, will provide the infrastructure to store Indian users’ data on local servers, Garena said. The relaunch is set to give Singapore-based Sea a boost as…

Charles Martinet, who has been the voice of Mario in Nintendo games since the 1990s, is resigning from his role. Nintendo of America confirmed Monday that Martinet will now serve as a “Mario Ambassador,” traveling the world to promote the beloved plumber, signing autographs and voicing Nintendo characters. “It’s been a privilege to work with Charles in bringing Mario to life for so many years, and we want to thank and celebrate him,” Nintendo said in a statement. In addition to being the original voice of Mario, he has also…

Shares of Roblox Corp. experienced a significant decline, marking its largest drop in nine months. This came after the company revealed that users were spending less time engaging with its games during the second quarter, falling short of Wall Street’s expectations. Roblox customers spent 14 billion hours playing games in the three months ended June 30, below the 14.4 billion analysts expected. The number of daily active users on the platform fell 1% from the last quarter, also missing analysts’ expectations and calling into question whether Roblox will be able…

Roblox has transformed the groundbreaking Broadway musical “Hamilton” into an interactive virtual world, offering a fresh and immersive experience to a younger audience. “‘Hamilton’ has worldwide recognition. Roblox has 66 million daily active users worldwide. What a perfect match,” Matt Edelman, president and chief commercial officer of Super League — which designed and built the online experience — told The Associated Press ahead of Thursday’s official launch. In Hamilton Simulator, players use their own avatars as they rub shoulders with characters from the musical and negotiate 10 levels set during…

According to an internal memo cited by Reuters on Tuesday, Mobile Premier League (MPL), a gaming platform, has announced its intention to lay off up to 350 employees due to the government’s tax imposition on online gaming companies. MPL stated that this measure was necessary for its survival. In particular, the Indian government has imposed a heavy tax, which the gaming industry says it cannot sustain. MPL’s initiative to lay off a large part of its workforce is now being blamed on the tax. Last month, the government decided to…

Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, announced on Wednesday that it will be broadening its prohibition on live broadcasts featuring gambling material. The company said it will now ban streaming online casinos Blaze and Gamdom, adding to the four sites it banned last October when its new gambling policy came into force. Twitch announced the restrictions after a controversy erupted on the platform last year in which the streamer was accused of swindling users and other content creators out of thousands of dollars to fuel gambling addiction. This led some…

In a recent statement, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused certain gaming companies of manipulating the system by disguising themselves as legitimate gaming entities while actually operating gambling ventures or evading tax payments in the past. In his comments at the Express Adda Live event, amid controversy over the GST Council’s decision to levy 28 percent tax on online gaming, the electronics and information technology minister reiterated his intention to lower the GST on permitted online gaming and has spoken to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the matter. The businessman-turned-politician denies…

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has stated that the government might approach the GST Council to take into account the details of the new regulatory framework for the online gaming industry, as concerns have been raised regarding the imposition of a 28% GST. The minister also mentioned that it took the council three years to reach a decision on online gambling. Online game players have expressed their disappointment with the Goods and Services Tax Council’s decision to levy a 28 percent tax on real money online games. The Electronics and IT…