China Approves More Video Games
Throughout the world, there are few countries that regulate their media more strictly than China. The only possible exception I could think of is North Korea. In it’s simplest terms, for something to make it into the mainstream media in China, it has to be governmentally approved. As such, when the video games licensing industry was shut down in China last year, all official game approvals shutdown with it!
Yes, for around a 7-8 month period, China has effectively closed the gaming industry in the country until they figured out new procedures to ensure that what made it onto shelves was ‘suitable’ content.
With the new regulatory body opening in December, we saw a very limited number of games receive approval. Roughly 80, a month on, however, and it seems that the machine might be whirring up in speed. In a report via TheStar, China has just approved another circa 80 games for release. There is, however, something of a major omission in this latest list.
TenCent
It’s hard to describe in a sentence what TenCent is. I will, however, attempt to do so. Put simply, they are China’s single largest video game publisher. If a game is created in the country, TenCent likely has something to do with it. It is, however, a matter of curiosity that despite the 100+ games that have now received approval, none of theirs has yet made the list.
The reason for their omission is at present unclear. It is, however, at the very least unusual. The only comparison I can think of would be if the ERSB did not approve any games developed in Europe. It may be indicative of a rift, possibly something to do with the initial market freeze. We will, of course, have to wait and see how this develops.
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
