Chinese gaming firms unveil share buybacks after regulatory move unnerves investors

"Game for Peace", Tencent's alternative to the blockbuster video game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" (PUBG) in China, is seen on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken May 13, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo

SHANGHAI: A slew of smaller Chinese gaming companies have announced share buybacks - plans seen as an attempt to reassure investors after the market was spooked by regulatory moves to clamp down on consumer spending on games.

Last Friday, regulators published draft rules that would ban online games from giving players rewards if they log in every day, if they spend on a game for the first time or if they spend several times on a game consecutively. All are common incentive mechanisms in online games.