(Yicai Global) June 9 -- China’s leading game live-streaming platforms Huya and Douyu have been promoting their games to students -- many children -- by giving them free online courses.

The two platforms deleted this game advertising after the country’s authoritative China Central Television questioned this practice in a show yesterday.

Many online game options popped up before the learning column after a user logged into the Huya app on a mobile device, so a student wanting to study online had to scroll through information about such games and other social media, state broadcaster CCTV reported yesterday, saying the page of free online courses also displayed game advertising and options for buying virtual items.

Other live-streaming platforms, including that of Douyu, also feature these promotions, CCTV added.

Huya rolled out its learning section in a hurry for students to learn online courses amid the Covid-19 pandemic and is improving it, but this section was never intended for commercial promotion, Huya responded to the report late yesterday, saying it has deleted all the ads in question and commercial elements CCTV mentioned in the report, as well as the advertising content in its learning section.

Schools closed in February because of the coronavirus, and online education became a subject of intense discussion, so game live streaming-centered Huya and Douyu started their online courses. China has no laws to regulate which platforms are qualified to offer online courses and which are not, Tang Liang, deputy director of the information center at Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, told China National Radio.

A round of selection by competition has fed a predatory duopoly between Huya and Douyu in China’s game live-streaming market. Combined they have seized more than an 80 percent market share, per the market research firm MobTech’s latest report, which noted Huya had around 31.7 million active users as of March, while Douyu had 25.2 million.

Editor: Ben Armour