(Yicai Global) April 12 -- Chinese video-gaming sector stocks, including those of Tencent Holdings, NetEase, and Bilibili, rose after China’s media watchdog issued the first batch of new online game licenses in almost nine months.

Shares of Tencent [HKG: 0700], the world’s biggest video games company, was trading up 2.3 percent at HKD361.80 (USD56.80), while rival NetEase [NASDAQ: NTES] closed up 2.1 percent at USD95.01 in New York yesterday, despite neither company receiving one of the new licenses.

China’s National Press and Publication Administration yesterday issued 45 licenses for online gaming titles including Baidu’s Bang Bang Rabbit and Zqgame’s Clocker for Nintendo Switch. The regulator had not issued any such licenses since July 22 last year.

Shares of Chinese video-streaming platforms also gained on the news. Bilibili [NASDAQ: BILI] soared 7.2 percent to USD27.57 in New York yesterday, while Huya [NYSE: HUYA] and Douyu [NASDAQ: DOYU] rose 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent to USD4.75 and USD2.21, respectively.

The NPPA approved 87 games last July and then focused on tightening up regulation of the market. Last August, it introduced new rules cutting the amount of time that minors can spend on online gaming to three hours a week in a bid to curb “youth video game addiction.” Since then online gaming firms can only allow under-18s to play between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, as well as on public holidays.

Related authorities are likely to issue anti-addiction and consumption restrictions on games for adults soon, an industry insider told Yicai Global earlier.

Affected by the rules on minors and the licensing hiatus, Chinese gaming companies reported slower revenue growth last year. Tencent’s domestic market income rose only 1 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier and just 6 percent in 2021 from 2020, compared with an annual clip of 36 percent the year before.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione