China approves 27 overseas video games, from Merge Mansion to Audition: Everybody Party, in a sign of regulatory leniency
- The Chinese body in charge of licensing video games published a list of newly approved titles, which include 22 mobile titles and three PC games
- The latest approvals come only 90 days after authorities gave the green light to 44 imported game licences on December 28
China has granted licences for the domestic release of 27 foreign games, less than three months after the previous approval at the end of last year, in a positive sign for the gaming industry which has faced strict regulatory oversight in recent years.
Tencent, the world’s largest video gaming publisher by revenue, received a licence for the mobile discovery puzzle game Merge Mansion from Finnish game studio Metacore.
NetEase, China’s second-largest gaming company, secured a licence for Audition: Everybody Party, a mobile game based on the intellectual property of Audition, a popular Japanese dance and rhythm game.
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China’s online entertainment giant Bilibili also won approval for Shanyao! Youjunshaonu, the Chinese version of the simulation game Uma Musume Pretty Derby, which was developed by Japanese company Cygames.
Shanghai-based Chinese gaming firm XD Inc secured two licences, including for Gorogoa, a puzzle game, and Wizard of Legend, a roguelike game released by American studio Contingent99.
The latest approvals come less than 90 days after authorities gave the green light to 44 imported game licences on December 28. It also marks a contrast to the past two years, when there was almost an 18-months gap without any approvals being issued for imported games.
Liao Xuhua, research director focusing on culture and entertainment at Beijing-based Analysys, said the fact that licences were now being issued after only a 3-month gap was “notable”, indicating that “the approval process [of online games] is returning to normal and there will not be long pauses”.
“This move has further confirmed the previous expectation and consensus that the strict regulation of the gaming industry has come to an end,” Liao said, adding that it will not only “have a significant impact” on gaming companies but more importantly, it helps to “restore confidence” in the industry.
Nonetheless, statistics from NPPA show that the number of approved foreign games has decreased over the past three years. In 2020, China approved 97 imported games, while the number dropped to 76 in 2021.
Starting in August 2021, approvals of domestic or foreign games stopped as the Chinese government imposed a crackdown on the industry, which included tighter scrutiny of online content and limits on playing time for those under 18 years old.
China resumed granting licences for domestic titles in April last year, and approved 88 and 87 licences for games developed by domestic firms in January and February of this year, respectively. The numbers exceeded the number of licences approved in each batch of approvals for domestic games last year.
Last year, a total of 468 domestic games were approved, a 38 per cent drop from 2021, and only one third of the total number of licences approved in 2020.
Due to the regulatory and economic headwinds, China’s video game sales slumped by more than 10 per cent to 269.5 billion yuan (US$39.8 billion) last year, marking the first decline in at least two decades, with the number of gamers slipping 0.33 per cent to 664 million, according to a report published last week by the country’s semi-official gaming industry association.
