China has accelerated the issuance of licenses for video games compared to 2022
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The South China Morning Post reports that the National Printing and Publication Administration of China has approved eight dozen more games for release in the country, including those from major local developers.
Image Source: Tencent
As it became known, the February decision of the regulator gave the green light to 87 new games. Since the beginning of 2023, 175 Chinese-made projects have already received licenses (468 in all of 2022).
Approvals included Wang Zhe Wan Xiang Qi’s mobile strategy game based on Tencent’s hugely profitable Honor of Kings, and NetEase’s upcoming PC game tie-in with mobile Fantasy Westward Journey.
In addition to Tencent and NetEase, the Chinese regulator issued permission to release their games to Lingxi Games (owned by Alibaba Group Holding), Hong Kong’s XD Inc and Shanghai’s G-bits Network Technology.
The mobile version of Fantasy Westward Journey was released in 2015 and is still popular today (image source: NetEase)
Despite the decrease in the number of licenses issued compared to January (87 vs. 88), the February decision was another step towards easing the regulator’s pressure on the video game market in China.
Recall that for the release in China, the authors of the games require permission from the authorities. The summer before last, Beijing announced a crusade against interactive entertainment, which resulted in the suspension of licenses for nine months.
As a result, by the end of 2022, when restrictions began to ease, the Chinese video game sector shrank by more than 10% (to $ 39.6 billion), the first decline in almost 20 years.
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