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When it comes to policies and rules, China is well-known for having one of the most strict regulations. Not too long ago, China established its Online Ethics Review Committee to vet online video games. The committee has reportedly found all 20 initial games to have violated ethical regulations.
Out of the 20 games, 9 games were outright banned while the remaining 11 were sent back to remove “controversial content”. The committee’s purpose is to “guide online gaming companies to follow social moralities”, “prioritise the mental and physical health of teenagers”, and “promote the healthy development of the online gaming industry”.
List of games
| Game | Cause | Recommended Action |
| Arena of Valor (Tencent) | Overly revealing female characters, rewards given based on rank, distorted concepts of history and culture. | Corrective action |
| League of Legends (Riot) | Overly revealing female characters, rewards given based on rank, inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| Blade & Soul (NCSOFT) | Overly revealing female characters, inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| Chu Liu Xiang (NetEase) | Overly revealing female characters, inharmonious chatroom, game missions include fraud. | Corrective action |
| Overwatch (Blizzard) | Game visuals promote incorrect values, inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| Diablo (Blizzard) | Inharmonious chat, game missions include fraud. | Corrective action |
| World of Warcraft (Blizzard) | Overly revealing female characters, inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| Westward Journey (NetEase) | Overly revealing female characters, inharmonious chatroom, distorted concepts of history and culture. | Corrective action |
| Code: Eva (Tencent) | Rewards given based on rank, distorted concepts of history and culture. | Corrective action |
| The Legent of Mir 3 (WeMade) | Inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| Swords of Legends Online (Aurogon) | Inharmonious chatroom. | Corrective action |
| PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (Bluehole) | Blood and gore. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Fortnite (Epic) | Blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| H1Z1 (Daybreak) | Blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Alliance of Valiant Arms (Red Duck) | Blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Ring of Elysium (Tencent) | Blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Paladins (Hi-Rez) | Overly revealing female characters, blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Free Fire Battlegrounds (Garena) | Overly revealing female characters, blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Knives Out (NetEase) | Overly revealing female characters, blood and gore, vulgar content. | Prohibited/Withdraw |
| Quantum Matrix (NetEase) | Blood and gore, vulgar content, inharmonious chat | Prohibited/Withdraw |
Banned Games
According to a source from Reddit, most of the games banned come from the Battle Royale genre. Surprisingly, Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds made it into the ban list. Furthermore, other games like Paladins made it into the list as well.
However, out of all the games that were banned, Fortnite stood out. This is because the reason given for banning Fortnite does not make sense. For those who did not notice, Fortnite is famous for being completely devoid of blood graphics.
Corrective action required
On the other hand, popular Blizzard games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch require corrective actions. Even Riot’s League of Legends did not escape the shortlist. The primary cause for these seem to stem from revealing female outfits and inharmonious chatroom. Overly revealing outfits have been part of the RPG genre for a long time. The crackdown on these outfits coincide with the regulations placed on Chinese TV where revealing outfits are not allowed.
On the other hand, inharmonious chatroom may refer to the lack of censorship in chatrooms. China has strict rules regarding on what is allowed and what is not. In China, games tend to have a list of censored phrases constantly updated to adhere to requirements. Hence, the lack of censorship can be seen as a problem based on Chinese regulations.
At the moment, there has yet to be a formal announcement from the committee. Until then, results of the review may change altogether. Hence, please take this information with a grain of salt until an official announcement is made.
Source: The Telegraph, Reddit
