China pulls game rules from website

China's gaming regulator has removed from its website rules it proposed last month aimed at curbing spending and rewards that encourage playing video games.

The news came as Tencent's (0700) Riot Games said it would lay off 530 employees.

The link to the draft rules on the National Press and Publication Administration's website was inaccessible as of yesterday morning.

The removal was described by analysts as unusual, with some saying a revision could be in store.

Xiaoyue Hu, an analyst at Haitong Securities, said that the removal of the announcement could signal "there might be further changes in the new measures."

Hu said previous regulatory measures seeking opinions had a track record of staying on the government's websites even after the consultation period ended.

Separately, Riot Games' management said that the video game maker has too many projects and too little focus.

The cuts, which amount to about 11 percent of staff, were announced Monday.

"This isn't to appease shareholders or to hit a quarterly earnings number - it's a necessity," the League of Legends maker said, acknowledging it had "more than doubled in headcount" over the last several years.

And chief executive Dylan Jadeja said that Riot has made "a number of big bets across the company," including new games. But some of those projects have diverted resources. For its first 14 years, the company primarily operated League of Legends - still one of the most popular games of all time.