China’s gaming regulator said to call halt on new approval submissions to clear backlog in potential blow to Tencent, NetEase

China’s State Administration of Press and Publications (SAPP) has called a halt on new video game approval submissions to clear a backlog created by an earlier nine-month hiatus, according to a gaming company executive with knowledge of the matter.

There is no confirmed date as to when the top video games regulator will restart accepting submissions from its local bureaus, according to the person, who was informed by the local regulator this week and asked not to be named as the information is not public. Video game companies can still file applications to local regulators, which will no longer pass them on to the SAPP while it works through its backlog, said the executive.

The administration did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. A video games industry blog first reported the suspension.

“If the licensing process is halted for any reason more than to give the SAPP a chance to clear out the backlog, that will be a disappointment to game developers, publishers and gamers,” said Lisa Hanson, founder of Niko Partners, an Asia-focused gaming research firm. “We are hopeful that this is a procedural halting and will soon be resolved.”

Still, the new suspension “could possibly hurt publisher earnings if they need to endure a prolonged wait for their return on investment in titles in their pipeline that they had anticipated to be released in China already or in the near future”, Hanson said.