China’s Game License Hold Might Last Another 6 Months

China’s Game License Hold Might Last Another 6 Months

Over the last few weeks, it may have come to your attention that China had officially ceased any issue of gaming rating certifications. Essentially, no new games were being approved and if they’re not approved, they don’t get released. Considering that China is a massive market for both the internet and gaming, it’s clearly not an ideal situation.

In a report via GamesIndustry though, it seems that China is planning to extend the ban for at least another 4-6 months.

New Approval System

The previous rating system had been scrapped after various games had initially gotten through to be subsequently banned. As such, the government announced plans for a new system to be implemented. When announced it had an initial timeline of about 2-3 months. It seems, however, that it’s a lot more involved than previously thought. As such, China has now extended the time frame to 4-6 months.

Why Is It Taking So Long?

It’s no secret that China has some of the strictest rules and regulations around surrounding what is permissible in their media. Under the guise of a strict moral code, the government is very careful to make sure that whatever is (legitimately) made available to the public is in their interest.

You might, correctly, point out that during the ban, a number of games have been released. Just to be clear though, these were games approved prior to the changes. As such, it’s not believed that any existing agreements have been affected by the change.

It is, however, if nothing else, interesting times!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!