China on Saturday approved the release of 80 online video games after a freeze on such approvals for most of the year but the list of approved games does not include games from industry leader Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The approved titles are listed on the website of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Xi Jinping’s government stopped the approval of video game titles in March. China has become increasingly critical about the impact of video games on users, taking issue with violence, while raising concerns around addiction and the impact on people’s eyesight.

Tencent, China’s largest video games publisher and owner of Fortnite-creator Epic Games, saw its game titles were notably absent from the list.

The embattled company, which has a market valuation of around $375.3bn, suffered its first profit drop in a decade after the ban took place. Beijing's ban on video game approvals has lasted nine months.

In August, Chinese regulators ordered Tencent to remove Monster Hunter: World - a game that had drawn more than 1m pre-orders - from its gaming platform WeGame just days after being released.

Earlier this month, a censorship committee set up in China found that the first 20 games it reviewed violated its required ethical standards. Nine games were given a blanket ban while the remaining 11 were refused due to “controversial content”.

China hosts the world’s biggest gaming industry, generating more than $30bn of revenue per year in a sector with more than 500m users.