Official Commentary Highlights Value of Gaming Industry, Players Retort: Give Us Licenses First

Recently, an official commentary titled 'Seizing the Opportunity to Deeply Excavate the Value of the Video Game Industry' sparked widespread discussion in the gaming community. The article pointed out that the European Parliament passed a resolution supporting the development of the gaming sector, arguing that games are no longer mere entertainment but are sophisticated tools carrying economic, technological, and strategic value. It emphasized that China should objectively recognize these values and leverage game technology in fields like 5G, AI, and digital preservation.

However, this 'high-level' official statement hit a wall on the NGA community forums. Players were unimpressed by the grand narrative of 'excavating value,' and the comment section quickly turned into a massive demand for the resumption of 'Banhao' (the mandatory official licensing required to publish games in China).

The consensus in the comments was clear: Players asked if the prerequisite for 'excavating value' shouldn't be the normalization of game licensing. One user sarcastically noted, 'Forget the abstract talk; just give us a dozen licenses a month.' Others mocked the situation as 'crawling like in Handan'—an idiom describing someone who tries to learn a new skill but loses their original self in the process—implying that the regulator wants innovation but is killing the industry's ability to survive. Players expressed deep frustration, feeling that without active license issuance, all macro-level guidelines are empty rhetoric.