China's network technology on September 1 (reporter Li Yiran) under the new crown epidemic, the game industry is gaining more and more users. According to data, as of the end of the second quarter, the scale of domestic game users has approached 660 million, and the annual revenue of the domestic mobile game industry is expected to reach 224.1 billion yuan this year, an increase of more than 40% year-on-year.
However, behind the industry's popularity is an undercurrent, fishing, board games "involved in gambling" phenomenon occurs frequently, many players are deeply involved in it, deeply affected by it. It is understood that although game companies themselves generally hold a crackdown on gambling-related behaviors, the unique rules of fishing and board games have spawned a large number of "game middlemen". These "middlemen" take advantage of the loopholes in the rules of the game to engage in the scalping and scalping of game props, gold coins and other game virtual items, earning the difference in price from them, which in turn makes some games a hotbed for gambling.
Recently, a number of gamers have reported that they have encountered a large number of "middlemen" on the "fishing game" operated by Pok city, not only reselling the fishing props in the game, but also providing channels for the monetization of these props, making this "fishing game" a "disguised gambling platform", and many players have lost hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan on the platform.
In this regard, In response to an interview letter from China Net Technology, Boke City said that Boke City "learned in the communication with your network (China Net) that these 'players' were not recharged to the official account of Boke City, but spent cash with the so-called 'third party' channel to rent and sell game accounts, and accepted bets and cashed in RMB through 'third parties', so as to achieve the purpose of using games to organize gambling."
At the same time, Poker City said that the company has reported the matter to the Shanghai Municipal Network Authority, which believes that "this involves serious illegal acts, and it is recommended that our company contact the public security directly, and then our company and the district public security report, and the unified opinion is to resolutely crack down on the use of online gambling incidents to achieve the purpose of netting!" ”
However, China Net Technology reporters found on major third-party complaint platforms that there have been a large number of complaints about the "suspected gambling" and "inducing children's consumption" of Poker City Fishing Games. Especially in the APP Store comment section of the game's Apple mobile version, since two or three years ago, a large number of players have called it a "gambling game" and claimed to be victims of the game, and the most recent comment related to it was in May this year, which explicitly mentioned that the game had a "middleman rental number" and claimed that they had "played for 6 years and lost every day".
Player reviews on the APP Store
Veteran players lose millions a year
A veteran gamer, Mr. Yang, told China Net Technology that he spent more than a million yuan a year because he was addicted to Poker fishing operated by Poke City, and a friend Mr. Yang knew even lost 600,000 yuan one night.
Why can a fishing game cause players to lose hundreds of thousands, millions? Mr. Yang revealed that in the Poker Fishing Game Setting, players can purchase items called "warheads" by recharging cash, and fishing through "warheads" has a certain probability of winning a larger number of "warheads".
The "game middleman" can not only provide game players with game account "rental services", but also provide players with "warhead props" buy-in and sell trading services, and earn the difference from them. For example, a middleman buys a warhead from a player for 38 yuan each and sells it for 39 yuan.
According to players, there are currently a large number of game middlemen engaged in the trading business of "warhead" props of The Poker City Fishing Game, and also rent out various accounts for ordinary players to play "warheads" to make money.
Gamers tell about their trading experiences with game middlemen (Image: Black Cat Complaints)
Loopholes in the "gift props" rule have spawned a large number of "gambling-related middlemen"
A professional lawyer told the China Net Technology reporter that the props, gold coins and other virtual items of the fishing game, once they can be "reverse exchanged" into cash, will constitute online gambling - "reverse exchange" is the core factor to determine whether the game is "involved in gambling", and the function of transferring game props in the Poker fishing game provides conditions for the realization of virtual props such as "warheads", which can form a "closed loop of mutual conversion between gold coins, warheads and other virtual props and RMB". The above-mentioned lawyer believes that if the fishing game can be "transferred" through props between players, and the purpose of exchanging cash is ultimately achieved, this also constitutes gambling and is prohibited by law.
In fact, in 2014, the Ministry of Public Security, together with the General Administration of Press and Publication, and four other ministries and commissions issued the Notice on Regulating the Order of Online Game Operations and Prohibiting the Use of Online Game Gambling, which clearly stipulates that online game service units must operate in accordance with the law and must not provide services such as game points trading, exchange, or disguised exchange of cash or property in the form of "virtual currency", and must not provide game point transfer services such as gifts and transfers between users, strict management, and prevent the provision of convenient conditions for online gambling activities.
In the reply to the above-mentioned interview letter, Boke City told China Net Technology that the conspicuous area of the game interface of "Poker Fishing" reminds players that it is strictly forbidden to use the platform to carry out all gambling behaviors; regularly cracks down on the private transactions of "third-party" types of "players" through various forms; and regularly suspends "players" with serious circumstances. At the same time, Poker Fishing also limits the number of times gamers can "transfer game props to one-on-one".
Mr. Yang, a senior gamer, said that there is indeed a limit to the number of props to be transferred, but gamers often "continue to lease accounts from middlemen and continue to buy (transfer) props after playing a full number (the number of gifts reaches the upper limit), which is easy to circumvent the limit on the number of gifts."
It's not uncommon to lose hundreds of thousands of bucks in a fishing game (Credit: Zhihu)
In response to the interview letter of China Net Technology, Boke City also said that the company actively cooperated with the Shanghai police to collect game information, live screenshots and other evidence of illegal anchors to help confirm the illegal "third party" gambling-related crimes, and in 2019 alone, more than thirty "middlemen" were convicted of "opening casinos" for using Poker City Games to "open casinos for illegal profits".
Fishing chess and card games into gambling high incidence areas The leader of the Central Propaganda Department said that "the social reaction is strong"
In recent years, fishing board games have become a high incidence area of online games involving gambling, and at the 17th China International Digital Entertainment Industry Conference held on August 1, 2019, Guo Yiqiang, director of the Publishing Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, said in his speech that the State Press and Publication Administration will strictly control gambling games such as chess and card, fishing and other gambling games, as well as games with themes such as palace fighting, which have strong social reactions.
China Net Technology found that since the establishment of Poker City in 2010, most of the games developed are chess and card, fishing categories, occupying a considerable share in this market segment.
It is understood that after the establishment of Poker City in 2010, it started with PC-side board games, and in 2012 began to lay out mobile terminals, and established a 53wan page game platform, launching a series of products including "Poker Chess", "Single-Machine Bucket Landlord", "Fishing Master Thousand Cannon Edition" and so on. In 2014, the company released TV versions of its advantageous products such as "Poker Fighting Landlord", "Poker Mahjong", and "Violent Wild".
As early as 2013, some players reported that the board games operated by Poke City were suspected of being involved in gambling, according to players, the "Texas Hold'em" game launched by Poker City at that time, "a handful of cards to win or lose hundreds of yuan, yuanbao props can be exchanged for daily necessities."
As of late August 2020, China Net Technology reporter logged on to the Poker City Prop Mall and found that the webpage still showed that virtual items in the game, such as yuanbao props, could be exchanged for items with practical value such as telephone recharge cards, hand sanitizer, and body soap.
Poker City Mall Yuanbao redemption product page
In fact, according to the "Notice on Regulating the Order of Online Game Operation and Prohibiting the Use of Online Game Gambling" issued by the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Press and Publication and other four ministries and commissions in 2014, online game service units are not allowed to provide game points trading, exchange, or disguised cash and property exchange services in the form of "virtual currency", and the behavior of Pok city mall to exchange virtual items in games such as yuanbao props for property with actual value has also been suspected of violating laws and regulations.