China Roundup: Tencent’s Pokemon Unite hits record downloads, and other news

Tencent’s Pokemon Unite hits record downloads despite tech crackdown

• The multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA), developed by Tencent and Nintendo, became the game with most downloads in more than 62 countries.
• It succeeded to achieve that on September 21, the first day of its launch.
• However, the title hasn’t received a license or a release date, as the Chinese government has slowed its approval for new video games.

Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku drop feature to fast-track episodes

• Previously, users could pay an additional US$0.5 to watch an episode of a TV series on these platforms before it was officially broadcast.
• Nearly 60% of television dramas and 30% of popular online dramas provided these fast-tracking services from January 2020 to August 2020, according to a report by the Supervision Center of China’s State Administration of Radio and Television.
• However, the fast-tracking feature soon came under fire after some users complained that it was unfair to users who had already paid membership fees.