Tencent to bring world's hottest video game to China,
promises socialist values
Send a link to a friend
 [November 22, 2017]
BEIJING/HONG
KONG (Reuters) - Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd is bringing "Playerunknown's
Battleground", the world's hottest video game, to China, but with a
twist. The gory, battle royale-style game will get a socialist makeover
to meet stringent Chinese rules.
The move comes after China's content regulator slammed the South
Korean-made game, PUBG for short, last month for being too violent and
said it would likely be blocked because it "severely deviates from
socialist core values".
The PUBG game where players fight for survival on a deserted island is
currently the world's top-selling videogame, having shipped more than 20
million copies since its launch in March. It has been developed by South
Korean firm Blue Hole.
Tencent, which recently outstripped Facebook Inc in market value, said
it had won the exclusive rights to the game in China, and that it would
modify the game in order to meet the requirements of China's regulators
and censors.
"(Tencent) will make adjustment to content ... and make sure they accord
with socialist core values, Chinese traditional culture and moral
rules," it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tencent's main rival, Chinese company NetEase Inc, has already added red
banners into its battleground game with slogans such as "safeguard
national security, safeguard world peace", amid Beijing's efforts to
cleanse online content by targeting violent games and gaming addiction.
[to top of second column] |
The PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds video game is seen in this
illustration photo November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas
White/Illustration
NetEase's "Terminator 2" and "Wilderness", survival games similar to PUBG, are
the No. 1 and No. 3 most downloaded free mobile games in China, the world's
biggest video game market, analytics firm App Annie's data shows.
Tencent's top-grossing "Honour of Kings" is No.2.
Tencent was bashed by state media earlier this year for getting children hooked
on violence after the fantasy role-playing game Honour of Kings boomed in
popularity, forcing it to introduce a curfew for underage players.
In its latest statement, the company said it would highlight the spirit of
teamwork and fair competition from PUBG and ensure it delivers "healthy,
positive cultural and value guidance, especially for underage users".
(Reporting by Pei Li in BEIJING, Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Adam Jourdan in
SHANGHAI; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
