Tencent stocks plummet as its 'Glory of Kings' stirs gaming marathon among kids

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The share price of Tencent holdings, which ranks first in the world in term of gaming revenue, plummeted five percent on Tuesday afternoon, following an avalanche of criticism over its smartphone game " Glory of Kings " for encouraging all-nighter gaming marathons with Chinese kids.

The price of the Hong Kong listed stock plunged as much as 5.1% to 266.4 Hong Kong dollars earlier this afternoon, losing some 136 billion Hong Kong dollars (17.5 billion US dollars) in market value.

The decrease narrowed to 3.56% at the time of this article.

Share price changes of Tencent Holdings Ltd/ Reuters

This comes after a commentary by state media paper People's Daily on Monday accusing this extremely popular game of being a threat to the society, especially the children, with its "negative energy."

The role-playing game based on Chinese historical characters, has more than 80 million daily active users, meaning one in every seven Chinese people is playing the game at any time. Children under 17 years old account for 20 percent of its users, said the commentary.

"Tragedy goes on with the remarkable population data," argued the commentary.

A 17-year-old from Guangdong Province suffered a type of stroke after spending 40 consecutive hours on the game, and a 13-year-old jumped off a building after being lectured by his father for spending too much time on the game.

VCG photo‍

Tencent immediately claimed measures against child indulgence should be a sustained systematic project. To ensure healthy child development, the company will limit daily play time for its younger users.

Players under the age of 12 will be restricted to one-hour of playtime per day, and log-ins after 21:00 will not be allowed. Meanwhile, teenage players between the ages of 12 and 18 will be allowed two hours of play time per day.

In another statement issued by Tencent on Tuesday, the game giant said the game's design complies with government rule, and the company will shoulder its social responsibility accordingly, as the game continues to gain popularity across the nation.

Game players in a contest hosted by Glory of Kings/VCG photo

The People's Daily, in another commentary on Tuesday, responded to say coordinated efforts are necessary from both the government and the game developer, recognizing the "game is not evil by nature".

China is the world’s largest gaming market by revenue, and is expected to make up about a quarter of global game sales in 2017, according to research firm NewZoo.