China To Regulate Foreign Games

China recently released new regulations regarding foreign online games that have a local presence.

Under the new regulation, the General Administration of Press and Publication (“GAPP,” China’s primary agency for censorship of published works) will postpone the examination, approval and licensing of foreign company products if the companies are sued or targeted for arbitration actions by Chinese online game companies. The GAPP will not continue consideration of the products until after the complaints have been resolved. Whereas all publishers in China are required to be licensed by the GAPP, the agency basically has the power to deny the right to publish, and completely shut down any publisher who fails to follow its dictates.

Simply put, Chinese online game companies can sue foreign game companies if they want to delay the “examination, approval and licensing” of the foreign games. The delay is indefinite until the lawsuits are resolved.

In 2007, China’s online gaming population is estimated to be around 40 million, so you can’t blame game companies, foreign and local, to want a slice of the action. The new regulation obviously favors local publishers, so expect foreign companies to take the beating. With World of Warcraft’s large Chinese population, Blizzard Entertainment stands to lose the most under the new regulation. I can almost hear the lawsuits being filed already.

Source: Virtually Blind

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