MILAN : Europe's video game stocks fell on Thursday and U.S. peers looked set to follow after a reported suspension of approvals for new online games in China, the world's No.1 gaming market.
"It's not good news, period. The last gaming approval 'temporary' suspension lasted nine months. It impacted the whole sector in terms of growth and valuation compression of stocks," said Neil Campling, London-based head of technology, media and telecoms research at Mirabaud. Shares in U.S.-listed Roblox, Activision, Electronic Art, and Take-Two Interactive Software dropped between 0.3per cent and 1.8per cent in premarket trade.
The fresh push by Chinese regulators whacked the share prices of Tencent and NetEase, which fell more than 8per cent and 13per cent respectively on Thursday, dragging the Hong Kong tech index to its biggest fall since the end of July.