Rumors of obscenity ban cast shadow on gaming industry

File photo of a character of online games.

(ECNS) -- China's online gaming market saw falling shares on Wednesday, following rumors that obscenity in online games and sexual marketing will be banned, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

According to the rumor, some enterprises were notified that characters in online games cannot expose suggestive body parts. Tops with short sleeves, shorts and bikinis also would not be allowed, or any bodily contact between male and female characters.

The rumor comes after Shenzhen police on Tuesday raided the headquarters of Shenzhen QVOD Technology Co, the company behind Kuaibo.com and a leading provider of streaming media and entertainment.

The raid was part of an anti-porn initiative called "Cleaning the Web 2014" launched earlier this month.

Because QVOD attracts about 200 million users a week, many gaming industries advertise there, the head of a Guangzhou-based game company said.

Sexually charged advertising on websites is common, he said. If such content is banned, their online traffic will suffer.

The manager of a Beijing-based game company is concerned that the government's anti-porn war will go even deeper into online games.

However, caijing.com said the ban on game characters' clothing was not real, after interviewing several game companies that denied receiving any such notice.