China proposes new, tighter game regulations

China, in regards to game publishing, may see new regulations that are tighter and more restrictive than ever before. It may be common knowledge for gamers that China has quite a lot of guidelines in place, like the banning of skulls depicted in art, for one. These new regulations would be cracking down even more on games, covering a broader scope.

二、游戏运营

1、小游戏及主机游戏原则上要求由运营平台完成实名认证。

2、弱联网及纯单机游戏需在下载或者购买时完成实名认证。

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3、所有存量用户需尽快完成实名认证，如收到投诉，将按最新的实名认证和防沉迷要求进行处罚。

4、对游戏套版号上线行为作出撤销已获得版号的处罚，游戏全网下架，对出版社通报批评暂停出版业务等处罚。

5、不得在游戏中植入违规广告， 如推广未经审批的游戏广告，一经发现依法追究责任。

6、不得在游戏中宣扬“全球同服”功能，如有应及时下线并删除相关功能。

7、不得在游戏中出现僵尸、瘟疫等映射当前新冠肺炎等言论，确保在游戏聊天、命名、公户系统中不出现不当言论。

8、禁止在游戏名称或游戏内容中出现不良诱导，如盲目拜金或鼓励多人发生恋爱关系等。

9、我省在5月上旬对游戏企业的实名认证和未成年系统设置情况完成检查，国家新闻出版署将在6月前设置专项督查工作。

The guidelines mention how the depiction of zombies, post-apocalyptic scenarios, plagues and such are currently hitting too close to home no thanks to the current coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. While the games have already existed long before the outbreak, going by this, games like Left 4 Dead, The Last of Us, Days Gone and Resident Evil would then become banned games for pretty obvious reasons. If you somehow aren’t aware of these games, all of them have some form of zombies, post-apocalyptic scenarios, caused by a spread of a virus or similar.

Continuing on, there are regulations regarding game content, which include:

• “Blind money worship”

PAYDAY is one of the biggest examples we can give here in regards to the literal translation, considering the core gameplay of getting a bunch of friends together for a heist. The Grand Theft Auto series would be yet another one, with the whole robbing, wanton killing, etc. which would be seen as “promoting” such behaviours.

• Vulgarities, “offensive words”, “bad words”

For this, examples we can provide include words like “death”, “demons”, “kill” or “ghosts”. Netease’s Onmyoji series of games has youkai as inspirations, which can be seen as “harmful” because well, not all of those mythical creatures and legends are benevolent and may be considered “bad examples”. In terms of use of words, something like Dark Souls may also be banned thanks to the “YOU DIED” screen.

• Games that “encourage the player to have romantic relationships with multiple people”

This one is definitely aimed at dating sim games. Part of the fun of these games would be to explore the various routes before you “commit”, so to speak. Games with harem endings – namely, ending up together with all romanceable characters – also do exist (the Conception games come to mind) so these seem likely to end up on the banned list.

Perhaps one of the biggest restrictions the board may have in place is the ruling against “creation” or “editing” tools, like for maps or items, to be accessible by players. This would of course be applied to games sold in China, with the reasoning being these tools can be used to “divide the country”, like slogans being written into in-game items or designs. 

The regulations go even further by suggesting that online or global functions should be introduced or promoted at all. This would affect games like Animal Crossing or Minecraft and their cohorts. Due to this, should a game have multiplayer functions, then it would need an entirely separate China server if it hadn’t already, that is limited to within the country.

It is possible that these regulations might not be as severe or exaggerated as they might seem. It is suggested that in regards to the whole zombie/apocalypse/etc settings, if the content is not “greatly highlighted” or is “unimportant”, then it could still skirt the edges of the regulations. The games we mentioned might still be out of luck, though.

For the romance games part, as long as the game’s “concept of love” is “correct”, then it shouldn’t be any issue. Characters need to be of age, and nothing out of wedlock or extramarital affairs can be in the game. This seems reasonable at first, but then, remember The Sims? There’s a level of editing tools, and Sims can be in relationships with anything from another Sim to an alien. Where would that fall into?

These proposals are still in the discussion stage and may not see implementation at all. Of course, should they come to pass, then the games industry would see a massive hit. China is pretty much the biggest Asian market, and the regulations would make it nothing short of difficult for overseas developers to publish their games in the country to say the least. Domestically, Netease itself has multiple titles that could violate the proposed regulations, like the aforementioned Onmyoji series and LifeAfter. The characters and settings are core to the respective titles, after all.

Publishers might have to start planning ahead should these new proposals for tighter game regulations be passed in China. Especially if we consider China exclusive mobile titles, these rulings may mean they won’t ever have a chance of making it out of the country to say the least. Let’s not forget popular multiplayer titles developed in China, like Azur Lane and Honkai Impact? Granted the game versions and servers are pretty much already separated, but how much would disallowing separate game versions and the social factor affect the development of other servers? Bigger game companies might not have major issues if we assume they would have enough of a budget to support exclusive servers, but this doesn’t bode very well for smaller companies. Developers in China aren’t likely to completely abandon the domestic market, but they might opt to expand globally faster – with a “complete package” so to speak.

Of course, we can’t forget about publishing games for China. Diablo 4 can’t suddenly wipe the slate clean of its demons. Most of us would probably take it for granted, just slap on that adult rating and the game’s good to go. These regulations aren’t likely to make it so simple. What of esports then? Would any changes in the design give any advantage or disadvantage, and how do you streamline the viewing experience if the changes are big enough?

What do you think?

via Wanuxi

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