In the latest round of news coming from China’s gaming industry, the newly formed State Administration of Press and Publication introduced new restrictions and requirements for games entering the Chinese market. These new set of restrictions includes banning games with Blood, gambling (poker and Mojang) and Imperial scheme. The administration also capped a number of games allowed annually in the market. The State administration believes all these restrictions will help curb the influx of gambling problems in the younger population and the wrong depiction of China’s past in games.
This news comes after the Chinese government started accepting licenses for new games after they halted the review process for 9-months. With more companies applying for approval these new rules come as a hindrance.
With the huge population of China, the country generates US $30 billion alone from video games sales, which will likely rise in 2019. Although the market cap could have been bigger but the uncertainty has always kept big developers of the market. With these new rules coming in hot, the entry to market did get easier but with heavy censorship.
Before developers used to change colour of textures and release the game, but that won’t work now. With new restrictions the developers need to present detailed scripts, screenshots and features to help curb gameplay addiction and overspending of money on game by younger population.
But all these changes do come as positive for companies such as Nintendo, who’s content is more focused towards kids and toddlers. With the recent news of Tencent receiving approval to start selling Nintendo Switch in China and the new approval guidelines, Nintendo will be expecting in increased sales and market reach.
