China Lifts a 13 Years Old Interdiction

China have approved a plan to lift selling restrictions for consoles. The decision to restrict consoles in their country was made 13 years ago, the Chinese being afraid that western games could have a negative impact on their teenagers. All in all, times change and the rise of mobile devices makes the 13 years decision obsolete.

The decision comes from the State Council to make a free exchange zone in Shanghai. The interdiction, which dates back to year 2000, was established due to the fact that officials considered international games dangerous.

As a result of lifting this interdiction, game developers will be able to open up offices in the Shanghai area, and with the Chinese market being big and attractive, it will not be hard to find interested people.

The Shanghai free zone will open up on the 29th of September and will be similar to Hong Kong. Microsoft has already announced a joint venture with Bes TV for developing games around the Shanghai area. Besides this interdiction, the Chinese have also talked about eliminating the Facebook/Twitter blockade.

Even with all these restriction,s the Chinese gaming industry has $9.7 billion and could rise to $21.7 billion by 2017.

Thank you Adevarul.ro for providing us with this information.

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