Meanwhile, in China ...

[Syt]

https://www.pcgamer.com/china-imposes-new-regulations-on-blood-dead-bodies-and-history-in-games/

China imposes new regulations on blood, dead bodies, and history in games

China recently resumed approving videogames for release in the country, but it has also made a number of changes to that process and implemented stricter regulations on content. According to a report by analyst firm Niko Partners, that means games must not depict dead bodies or pools of blood, and must contain "correct information regarding history, politics and law."

The State Administration of Press and Publication, which was formed in April 2018 to regulate the approval process, announced the changes at a conference held earlier this month. Some of the changes are already in place, such as the Online Game Ethic Committee, which was established in December 2018 to ensure that games "abide by the social values that China holds dear."

More than 1,000 games have been approved for publication since then, but the report also says that SAPP will impose a limit on the number of games approved each year, and that some types of games, primarily "low quality copycat games," will no longer be approved. Poker and mahjong games will also not be approved, as China moves to tighten restrictions on online gambling, and games with obscene or immoral content, including "imperial harem games"—I'm not familiar with the genre, but I assume it's stuff like this—are also out.

Game companies are also being encouraged to publish games that put an emphasis on China's "core social values" and "traditional culture." And while publishers were previously able to get around China's ban on the depiction of blood by changing its color, that will no longer be allowed.

"There shall be no images of dead bodies or pools of blood in any games," the report states. "Developers may not change the color of pools of blood to accommodate."

The new approval process is expected to be in place by the end of April.

Considering how Western companies try to court the Chinese market, I wonder if this will have any effect on big titles in the future. Rainbow Six Siege at one point already had a level sanitized for all players to appease Chinese censored (they later reverted for non-Chinese players, IIRC).

[Habbaku]

China's catching up to the 1990s!

[Oexmelin]

China's catching up to the 1990s!

With the censorship capacity of the 2020s.

[Habbaku]

Joe Liberman would approve.

[Syt]

"correct information regarding history, politics and law" and "abide by the social values that China holds dear"

Probably means most strategy games that feature a historic version of China will be out.

[Syt]

From Eurogamer:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-04-23-china-bans-blood-poker-and-imperial-plots-in-latest-video-game-crackdown

As anyone following the weird and wacky world of video game regulation will know, the games industry hasn't been having the best year in China. After temporarily freezing game approvals and blaming games for causing eyesight problems, the Chinese government chose to restrict playtime for kids, even using police databases to enforce the rules.

At long last, the approvals freeze has finally been replaced with a new process, but fewer games will be approved - and titles with pools of blood, corpses, gambling and imperial schemes will no longer be given licences.

As detailed in the new approval process guidelines (via Gizmodo), games with corpses and pools of blood of any colour will no longer be accepted. This means developers can't simply change the colour to get around the problems, so if you were expecting rainbow fountains in Mortal Kombat 11, you're going to be disappointed.

The changes also mean games inspired by China's imperial history will be rejected. According to TechCrunch, this includes "gongdou" (harem scheming) and "guandou" (palace official competition). China has a complicated relationship with its imperial past, as while historical soap operas are enormously popular in the country for displaying a vision of Chinese primacy, they simultaneously clash with "socialist" values introduced in the Communist Revolution. In January this year several of these soap operas were mysteriously taken off air - and it looks like imperial games are set to follow suit.

Publishers are also being asked to consider how their games present Chinese culture and values.

Publishers will now have to submit more detailed information on their games, such as detailed scripts, screenshots and measures to prevent addiction.

Meanwhile, games with gambling themes are also taking a hit, as no digital poker or Mahjong titles will be approved. The government is simultaneously cracking down on physical poker, which from 1st June can no longer be played online, and all social media promotion of the game will be banned. Apparently the reason for this stems from concerns over the illegal gambling scene in China.

The rules will demand drastic changes from many developers, who will have to adapt to the new regulations to get their games approved. Given the Chinese games market currently produces an estimated $30bn in annual revenue, it's probably still worth it.

To put those 30 billion into perspective:

[Josquius]

Is this all because of that incident with the Taiwanese horror game and the anti Xi art asset?