Twitch Reportedly Blocked in China After Recent Popularity Surge

Twitch has been blocked in China according to multiple reports. It has been observed that the live streaming service had seen a surge of popularity in the nation during the 2018 Asian Games. It was the first time e-sports like League of Legends, PES, Arena of Valor, and Hearthstone were a part of an international sporting event and China even took home two gold medals. The 2018 Asian Games e-sports events weren't broadcasted by China's state broadcaster CCTV so many flocked to Twitch to watch the proceedings. It hit number three on all free apps on the App Store in the country last month. Now the Twitch app and website are no longer accessible within mainland China. 

No reason for Twitch being blocked has been given. And it now joins the ranks of Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit in being unavailable in China.

This follows China's crackdown on gaming following a government shake-up. The whole sector has been rattled as gaming companies from online giant Tencent Holdings to small developers await approvals.

Previously, China's Ministry of Education directed the country's publishing regulator to limit the number of new online video games, take steps to restrict the time young people spend playing games and explore an age-appropriate system for players.

Beijing's directive was included in a document published on the website of the ministry outlining how China should respond to worsening rates of myopia, or near-sightedness, among young people, and blamed the spread of mobile phones and other electronic devices partly for it.

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