AlphaAtlas
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2018
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The Chinese government halted all new game approvals last year, which pummeled the stock prices of Chinese developers like Tencent while making international developers hoping to enter the Chinese market anxious. After releasing a small initial batch approved games late last year, the Chinese government recently approved 84 more. Some media outlets are painting this as a positive development, as the time between approvals suggests the government is picking up the pace, but an expert speaking to the Financial Times notes that the recently approved games "are not hardcore games," which are seemingly more difficult to approve. Big titles from Tencent still haven't made the list, and I don't see any AAA games from international developers either. Mobile apps aside, I think the Chinese gaming market is going to be a tough one to enter for the foreseeable future, which could have some unintended consequences.
The freeze on new approvals had spooked companies in the world's largest gaming market, where an estimated 620 million players spent $37.9 billion last year, mostly on mobile and PC games, according to gaming market research firm Newzoo.
The freeze on new approvals had spooked companies in the world's largest gaming market, where an estimated 620 million players spent $37.9 billion last year, mostly on mobile and PC games, according to gaming market research firm Newzoo.