Without such approvals, the world’s largest videogames company by revenue, can’t make money from new products inside China. The hiatus is becoming more galling as other, smaller companies are now receiving approvals again: 257 titles have been greenlighted in three batches since mid-December, with 93 getting the nod Tuesday.

It’s unclear why Tencent is still in the cold. One possible reason: It may simply be taking regulators time to get through the backlog that has built up since all approvals were halted last March. Analysts at Jefferies reckon applications for up to 8,000 games are languishing in their in-tray.

Tencent appears confident it will be back in Beijing’s good books before long. Last week it released a test version of a “Game of Thrones” game for smartphones—a sign it believes approval will follow shortly. Companies can launch trial versions of games before they get a license, though they can’t generate revenue from them.

It seems clear, though, that the good old days are gone, as China’s government frets about the dangers of videogame addiction. Regulators are likely to take more time giving games the rubber stamp: The pace of approvals has slackened markedly since they resumed last month compared with the rate before the freeze last March. And Beijing could take other measures harmful to the sector, such as imposing stricter rules on how much time and money users spend playing games.

The latest cold shoulder for Tencent has interrupted its shares’ strong recent run. They fell 1.2% Tuesday, having rallied 33% since their trough in late October. Tencent’s stock remains nearly 30% below its peak in January last year. When its games start getting approvals once more, its stock could climb again. But with China’s economy slowing and the games industry under a cloud, it’s hard to see the stock reclaiming its former glory soon.

Write to Jacky Wong at JACKY.WONG@wsj.com