Beijing Encourages Social Responsibility from Online Game Companies

On April 2^nd in Beijing, The Building Responsibility, Guiding Online Games – First China Games Ceremony sponsored by Xinhua Net was held, aimed to promote the healthy development of online games and promote the fulfillment of social responsibility by game companies. Event participants included leaders from the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, and other government departments, along with more than 300 game companies like Tencent Games, Netease, Shanda, Giant Interactive, Youzu Interactive, and Tongcheng Game.

Wei Zichuan, director and executive vice president of Xinhua Net, said at the meeting that, in recent years, online games have developed rapidly and their content has been continuously improving. However, there are also some games which lack meaningful cultural content and style, individual works which distort history and spoof national heroes, misunderstand values, and touch the moral bottom line, among other issues.

“Online games are a product of the time. Good online games can bolster economic and social development and help young people grow up healthily. However, online games with serious content problems can only be counterproductive,” stated Tang Qingqi, deputy director of the national anti-pornography office of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. “For the long term health and standardization of the online gaming industry, the responsibility of game companies cannot be missing. The strict supervision by government departments cannot be missing, and the severe crackdown on the use of online games to engage in illegal and criminal activities cannot be missing.” Tang further appealed to online game companies and players to be self-disciplined first, and hoped that media companies, including Xinhua Net, would act as watchdogs over the game market, making concerted efforts to jointly promote the long-term health of the online gaming industry.

The healthy development of the online gaming industry not only requires government management and media supervision, but also requires the industry to actively fulfill its social responsibilities and participate in the construction of a healthy ecology. Liu Xiaoyu, director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Cyber Security Bureau, said in his speech that enterprises engaged in the online gaming industry should be self-disciplined. They should not try to skirt the legal or moral line to attract attention, but must practice social responsibility to jointly guide the gaming industry and create a healthy and clear environment for the online gaming market.

According to Zhong Hongwu, director of the Research Center for Corporate Social Responsibility Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, online game companies should create a better real life for as many people as possible, tell stories responsibly, and spread the positive energy of corporate social responsibility.

Many game industry entrepreneurs have expressed their opinions, saying that in order to make the game industry healthier and more standardized, they will lead by example and actively fulfill their social responsibilities.

In the past year, the Chinese game industry has developed rapidly. In 2017, the overall operating revenue of the Chinese game industry reached approximately 218.96 billion RMB, an increase of 23.1% compared to 2016, and continues to rank first in the world. The game industry has entered a new era of development and the quality of its content has received much attention. At the end of 2017, eight national ministries and commissions jointly issued a document to standardize the online game market, aiming to encourage game companies to create games that are better, healthier, more positive, and conform to socialist core values. The China Games Ceremony sought to highlight games that positively reflect the theme of “Building Responsibility and Guiding Online Games”. Altogether, 18 awards were set for four major components of game production: games, companies, media, and e-sports.

In accordance with the theme of the ceremony, “Building Responsibility and Guiding Online Games,” Xinhua Net will continue to promote the game industry’s energy. In the past, some game companies made great efforts to promote social responsibility in the online gaming industry. However, due to lack of effective communication from upper management to lower levels, the social reaction is mediocre. Xinhua Net, with the aid of this Chinese gaming ceremony, will guide game companies to better social responsibility while at the same time playing the role of watchdog, publicizing outstanding game companies in order to promote the continuation and development of self-discipline and social responsibility in the games industry.

The China Online Game Complaint platform will promote and guide the protection of game players’ rights and interests. The majority of gamers can act as social supervisors, reporting online game fraud, game hacking, vulgar violence, fraudulent spending, etc. through the China Online Game Complaint platform (game.xinhua.net). Let us jointly look forward to a more standardized and healthy Chinese game industry, with more brilliant content.

Original article from People’s Daily Online, translated for Youxi Story by Johanna Armstrong.