In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Facebook, Google, and Twitter threaten to leave Hong Kong over proposed changes to the city's data protection laws; research from Newzoo asserts that the world's gaming market will be worth more than USD $200bn by 2023; and SoftBank's Z Holdings pay USD $1.6bn for the rights to the Yahoo Japan brand.

Online giants consider Hong Kong exit over proposed privacy laws

Leading online companies Facebook, Twitter, and Google, have threatened to pull out of Hong Kong if the government follow through on proposed changes to the city’s data protection laws. The planned amendments could make the US-based firms liable for cases where web users share individuals’ personal information online in order to endanger them (an act commonly referred to as “doxing”).

The prospective changes were first put forward by Hong Kong’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau in May. The proposal focuses specifically on clamping down on doxing, which has become more common after wide-scale protests held in the city during 2019. The amendment would see perpetrators fined up to HKD $1m (£93,240) and jailed for up to 5 years.

In a letter sent to the authorities last month, the Asia Internet Coalition (who count the aforementioned tech giants among their members) protested that the new rules could see staff members subjected to investigation and prosecution over content posted by site users.

Such a reality would represent a “completely disproportionate and unnecessary response” to doxing, reads part of the letter. “The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from investing and offering the services in Hong Kong,” it warns.

Global game market to grow to USD $200bn by 2023

The world’s gaming market will breach USD $200bn (£144.8bn) in value by 2023, according to Newzoo’s 2021 Global Games Market Report. The report asserts that the market will rise to USD $218.7bn (£158.4bn) in 2024 after seeing a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% from 2019.

This growth will be preceded by a small decline in 2021, with the market falling by around 1.1% to USD $175.8bn (£127.3bn) as a result of a waning PC and console market. The research expects the PC market to dip 2.8% to a value of USD $35.9bn (£26bn) this year, whilst consoles will see a more notable drop of 8.9% to USD $49.2bn (£35.6bn). Both declines come as a result of the pandemic, which has led to the delay of new releases and a shortage of new consoles, most notably the in-demand PlayStation 5.

Mobile gaming, in contrast, is set to grow 4.4% and to generate USD $90.7bn (£65.7bn) in consumer spending this year. Having seen a boon under the global health crisis, the channel is expected to account for more than half of the global games market in 2021.

Whilst growth is set to decline in 2021, Newzoo are positive that this dip will be temporary, and that the market will pick up again as more players become accustomed to new forms of play.

SoftBank buy Yahoo Japan trademark

Z Holdings, a unit of Japan’s SoftBank Group, have signed an agreement with Verizon Media to purchase trademarks from the Yahoo brand and its related infrastructure for around USD $1.6bn (£1.2bn).

The owner of SoftBank’s Japanese internet business, Z Holdings owns Yahoo Japan, whose web portal is the nation’s most visited news site. The firm had paid Verizon Media a regular fee for permission to operate under the Yahoo brand, and to use related technologies. These payments will be discontinued after a single, upfront payment is made.

The deal, which depends on the completion of Apollo’s impending USD $5bn (£3.6bn) purchase of Verizon, will aid the media firm by introducing “some early cash flow” after the buyout, according to TechCrunch.

A company statement about the deal from Z Holdings said “Although the Yahoo Japan License Agreement will be terminated, Yahoo Japan and Verizon Media will retain their cooperative business and technology relationship. Yahoo Japan will continue to deliver more convenient and innovative services under the ‘Yahoo! JAPAN’ brand, based on its mission statement: ‘UPDATE JAPAN.”