China to End Game Console Ban

News
By Catherine Cai
published

The console ban in China may finally end.

China will end its 13-year long ban on consoles, according to the South China Morning Post, now backed up by China Daily.

The Chinese government banned the production and sale of video games back in 2000, because it was concerned about their potential mental effects on children. Of course, this ban didn't prove effective, as individuals still had access to consoles via the black market. In recent years, with the rise in popularity in iOS products, Chinese gamers have had access to app store games.

Under the new policy, console manufacturers may produce their consoles only in Shanghai's free trade zone. Of course, all products will need to seek approval from the Chinese government.

Could this move perhaps inject some life into the thus so far anemic Chinese gaming scene?

Catherine Cai
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • SchizoFrog
    The first main question will surely be 'How will the 'official' manufacturers deal with the very real prospect of the prolific copies (hardware not software) that are bound to spring up? Should both MS and Sony find a way to limit imitations then surely AMD must be wringing their hands in joy at this future prospect in revenue.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    Thank God for Taiwan.
    Reply
  • rolli59
    Big market, console manufacturers must be happy.
    Reply
  • blubbey
    This is potentially massive. Even if only ~10-20% or so can afford to buy them that's still 130-260m more potential customers. That's about the size of the US market, if not much bigger.
    Reply
  • spat55
    Most of them are PC gamers now anyway, as they were not illegal if I remember correctly. Someone tell me if I am wrong though.
    Reply
  • clonazepam
    (Nintendo) Power to the people!
    Reply
  • clonazepam
    (Nintendo) Power to the people!
    Reply
  • deltatux
    PC gaming is huge in China, the console market is rather very small. This means that now, it's an ample opportunity for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo see if they break into the market that's heavily dominated by PC gamers.
    Reply
  • shikamaru31789
    Maybe I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that there is still alot of hate for Japan in China due to things that happened before WW2. If that's the case, could Sony and Nintendo have trouble breaking into the Chinese market? If so, Microsoft has a great oppurtunity here, this gen they tailed Sony and Nintendo in almost every market, but China is a potentially huge market for the Xbox, they could potentially take the lead this gen if they play their cards right. If I was them, I'd make China a major priority, get a Chinese division up and going quickly, localize tons of games, get a 1st party studio up and running to make some localized exclusives, maybe get some developers to work on porting over some popular Korean MMO's (which I understand are quite popular in China) with full keyboard support (Xbox One has support for wireless mouse and keyboard). Make sure to support all of the tv features like the HDMI-in and Xbox guide, so that the Xbox One will make a great set-top box. This could be huge for them.
    Reply
  • nevilence
    china had banned consoles?
    Reply