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One of China’s most sensible officials in video game regulation has lost his job after a crackdown on the industry last month.
Feng Shixin was the head of the publishing unit of the Chinese Communist Party’s publicity department. In this position, Feng had oversight of China’s video game regulator. Feng was fired last week, according to a Reuters report published Tuesday.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Feng’s departure was linked to the slate of proposed video game restrictions announced on December 22.
The planned restrictions were aimed at deterring other people from gambling video games by restricting in-game spending and restricting login rewards.
The move, however, rattled markets and sparked a sell-off in gaming stocks.
According to Bloomberg, gaming giants Tencent, NetEase and BiliBili, a popular video-sharing site among gamers, lost more than $80 billion in market price on the same day.
Soon after, the Chinese government temporarily revoked the restrictions. The regulator said in a notice the next day that it would refine the proposed regulations after taking into account industry feedback.
Steven Leung, chief executive of brokerage UOB Kay Hian, told Bloomberg that Feng’s withdrawal will “create the threat of additional panic selling” but will not attract further liquidity buying.
Leung explains that this is due to the fact that “changes happen in such a short period of time that policies remain uncertain. “
Representatives for China’s State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of general business hours.