How Mainland China Governs Video Game Monetisation: An Imbalanced Framework

China's governance of video game monetisation operates through a dual framework that both restricts and promotes commercial activity, according to this analysis of 138 Chinese government regulatory documents and industry self-regulatory materials collected between November 2025 and March 2026. The study, using thematic analysis, examines national laws, departmental regulations, Five-Year Plan documents, local government policies, and industry self-regulatory rules to map how the state regulates and supports monetisation as an object of governance rather than treating individual interventions in isolation.

On the regulatory side, monetisation is embedded within a broader regime governing media and cultural products. This regime emphasises content moderation and consumer protection, particularly for minors, with measures aimed at curbing cultural and ideological boundaries, mitigating player risk, and regulating spending behaviour. Alongside this, the state actively promotes "high-quality" games, esports, and game-adjacent technologies, primarily through performance-based funding schemes in which economic performance serves as a key eligibility criterion.

The authors identify two imbalances in this framework. Regulatory measures are predominantly organised around protecting minors, with standards designed for children extended to the wider player population, a approach that may fail to protect either group effectively. In addition, funding criteria tied to commercial success favour established firms and high-profile projects, making it harder for smaller studios to compete for public support and potentially reinforcing existing market advantages rather than reducing industry inequalities.

By shifting attention from individual regulations to the broader governance arrangements that shape commercial opportunity, the paper contributes to scholarship on videogame governance, cultural policy, and platform regulation. It offers a foundation for understanding how monetisation has been regulated and for rethinking which aspects of monetisation warrant regulation and how such approaches might be designed more effectively.