China cleans up mobile phone games market

BEIJING - The Ministry of Culture has named and shamed various online platforms promoting inappropriate games.

Cellphone games have been a goldmine with a short development period, wide promotional channels and strong sales. Meanwhile, public complaints over improprieties in these games have also been increasing fast, said a ministry statement released on Friday.

Investigations based on public tip-offs found games and online platforms, including software "360 mobile phone assistant", either included gambling content, lured players to invest money or were being operated without official licences.

The ministry told the websites and games to rectify their misconduct by December 31, or face administrative punishment.