|
Among the imported online games approved by the National Press
and Publication Administration are five to be published by
Tencent Holdings such as "Pokémon Unite" by Nintendo and "Valorant"
by Riot Games, according to a list the regulator released.
The regulator also approved 84 domestic games for the month of
December, according to a separate list released on Wednesday.
The approval of imported games effectively marks the end of
Beijing's crackdown on the video games industry which began last
August when regulators suspended the game approval process.
Regulators resumed issuing game licenses to homegrown games in
April, and the approval of foreign games was seen as the last
regulatory curb to be removed.
Unlike in most other countries, video games need approval from
regulators before release in China, the world's largest gaming
market.
Beijing's year-long crackdown on the industry has dealt a
significant blow to Chinese tech companies including Tencent and
NetEase Inc which derive substantial revenue from publishing
both self-developed and imported games.
Through various affiliated companies, Tencent, the world's
largest gaming company, has effectively received a total of six
licences in December, a source with knowledge of the matter told
Reuters.
Tencent only received its first commercial game licence in over
a year-and-a-half last month, which was seen then as an
important signal towards policy normalisation for the industry.
Other imported games approved include CD Projekt's "Gwent: The
Witcher Card Game" and Klei Entertainment's "Don't Starve".
Besides Tencent, NetEase, ByteDance, XD Inc and iDreamSky have
also received game approvals in December.
To be sure, the number of licences granted are fewer than in
previous years. China approved 76 imported games in 2021 and 456
in 2017.
In a year-end meeting this month, Pony Ma, founder of Tencent,
said that the company has to get used to Beijing’s strict
licensing regime, and the number of new games China would
approve would remain limited in the long run.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
