(Yicai Global) Feb. 14 -- Sales revenue in China's gaming market declined for the first time in almost 10 years in 2022 due to fewer new product launches, tighter restrictions and other unfavorable factors, according to a recent study.

China’s game sales revenue plunged 10.3 percent last year from the year before to CNY265.9 billion (USD39 billion), according to a report released yesterday by market research firm Gamma Data.

Revenue started to slide in March 2022 for a number of reasons, the report said. There are short and medium-term factors such as people staying indoors less, and long-term factors such as a slowdown in new product launches and financing difficulties.

There was a big drop in new games coming on the market in 2022, and most of the revenue was from old games launched years ago, Beijing-based Gamma Data said. The number of new mobile games released on Apple’s operation system slumped 5.3 percent in 2022 year on year and new products from big firms plunged significantly by 41.8 percent.

Tighter restrictions, introduced in the second half of 2021 to curb addition among minors, have also meant fewer gaming licenses are being issued. No licenses at all were released from August 2021 to March 2022, meaning that the total number of permits issued in 2022 was 32 percent less than the year before at 512 titles.

However, the regulations are easing. This month, Chinese authorities issued 87 licenses, making it the third consecutive month that it has granted more than 80 permits. And analysts expect the pace of game approvals this year to return to the levels in the first half of 2021.

Editor: Kim Taylor