Hints at a removal of the Chinese government's decade long ban on video-gaming have excited technology investors over potential gains for the industry, but analysts have warned the impact could be muted.
The China Daily's report Monday of the potential rule change sent the share price of major game console developers Sony and Nintendo soaring in Tokyo trade. Sony's share price jumped 8 percent and Nintendo also saw gains of close to 4 percent.
The removal of the ban would allow most game consoles and products to officially launch in China, opening up the market for providers including Microsoft, Nintendo Co, Sony and Activision, but analysts argue that the black market for these products is prevalent, stunting the potential for new providers.
(Read More: China Considers Ending 13-Year Ban on Videogaming)
Technology analyst at Standard Chartered Equity Research Don See said the impact of a scrapping of the ban would be insignificant because China's gaming industry is already booming despite the restrictions and described the rise in Sony and Nintendo's share prices as a short-term reaction.
"Changes to the ban on video gaming are unlikely to have a significant impact on global demand for consoles. There will be some improvement ... but as PC gaming is already huge in China through laptops and mobile devices, this has meant China already has 300 to 400 million gamers. There is not a huge amount of pent-up demand here. Many users can get round the rules and are able to import the consoles illegally from other countries. The law has become irrelevant anyway," he added.