The world’s hottest videogame is set to be shut out of the biggest
market.
A Chinese gaming association said in an announcement posted online that
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is too bloody and violent for sale in the
country. The gladiator-style mentality of the computer game – where competitors
kill each other until only one remains – deviates from the values of socialism
and is deemed harmful to young consumers, according to the China Audio-Video
and Digital Publishing Association.
It’s highly unlikely for the game known as PUBG to receive an official
license for China, given that the association consulted with the State
Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television before issuing
its statement. SAPPRFT is the regulator that licenses virtually all content in
China, and has previously banned content such as the TV series BoJack Horseman
and The Big Bang Theory. PUBG’s premise runs counter to President Xi Jinping’s
recent calls for unity, aimed at tightening party control.
“This basically spells the death sentence for PUBG in China,” said
Benjamin Wu, an analyst at Shanghai-based consultancy Pacific Epoch. “PUBG’s
main problem is that the underlying ideology clashes with what’s preached in
China.”
There’s been growing interest among Chinese gamers in getting their
hands on PUBG, but the game has lacked official approval for distribution. That
means users can only download and run the game through virtual private
networks, which are slow and often blocked. Tencent Holdings Ltd, China’s
biggest gaming company, was in discussions to purchase licensing rights, the
South Korean company said last month. Neither company responded to requests for
comment.
Not all violent games are banned in China. One of the country’s most
popular games is Tencent’s Honour of Kings, in which teams of five hack their
way through a battle arena to vanquish opponents. But the characters are
cartoonish, while PUBG’s are realistic.
The Korean title is like a digital version of The Hunger Games, where
100 combatants are dropped onto an island and proceed to slaughter each other.
China’s content watchdog strongly opposes duel-to-the-death games and they will
have a hard time wining operating licenses, according to the industry body. The
association also recommended that Chinese companies do not develop such games
and discouraged live streaming of related content.
“I suspect it won’t affect Tencent too much because no one can touch
survival games anymore,” said Wu. “It doesn’t have to worry that a competitor will
supersede it.”
China is the world’s largest market for videogames, with industry
revenue expected to hit US$27.5bil this year, slightly ahead of the US with
US$25bil, according to researcher Newzoo. But regulators in the
world’s second-largest economy periodically clamp down on forms of content they
deem threaten social stability, often without warning.
Honour of Kings did come under scrutiny this
year when the leading government newspaper blasted the title for harming
children in the pursuit of profit. The Chinese company also publishes a
first-person shooter called CrossFire, developed by South Korean developer
SmileGate Holdings. Both titles are still available in China. — Bloomberg
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