China, as a country that has popular game developers and publishers, turns out to have very strict rules regarding video games themselves. What is it? Let's see a brief explanation.
When it comes to video games, there is often tension when it comes to the Bamboo Curtain Country. This has become even more difficult, after the Hong Kong and Taiwan protests that broke out in 2019.
Their treatment of the entertainment sector often gets a lot of attention. Especially lately, with some restrictions on playing online games for children and character type censorship, as compiled by us from various sources.
1. Eradicating vulgar characters
China's state entertainment agency, too, has taken steps to censor impolite and vulgar characters. One of the latest restrictions, namely the prohibition of the presence of 'Effeminate' characters or men who are like women.
Through the website of The State Council of The People's Republic of China, the authorities ordered companies and platforms to tighten inspections of their game content.
"Content that is obscene and violent and that fosters unhealthy tendencies, such as the worship of money and masculinity, must be removed," wrote English.GOV.CN (9/9).
2. Restriction of playing hours
Then a new order was inaugurated, namely limiting the time for playing games for teenagers. In practice, these young people cannot play online games for more than three hours a week.
They are only allowed to enjoy the entertainment, starting at 8.00 and 21.00, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The goal is to overcome the problem of game addiction in children.
The main target is eradicating the strategy to earn money ferociously from various online games. This makes sense, when children can indeed spend thousands of dollars on microtransaction business models embedded in games.
3. Game license restrictions
Another rule is to limit the number of licenses, which they issue for online gaming. Even for the month of August, no new games have received permission from the Chinese government.
As experienced by Steam for the launch of their game collection, which was delayed for some time. However, 53 games were finally approved.
Actually, the closer game from Valve to China, is also opposed by local developers. Because they are worried that their sales window will have a negative impact on indie games.
Who Controls Game Censorship in China?
The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), is one of the government agencies responsible for managing the majority of media content in China. For prospective developers, who want to release games in that country, have to go through their strict rules and can even be rejected for various reasons.
Take, for example, content that is released in Chinese, should not damage 'Chinese unity' or set a 'bad example' for its viewers. As experienced by the Blockbuster film from the MCU, namely Shang-Chi, which will not be released in China due to comments from star Simi Liu.
The popular actor, described his parents' life in China as a third world, where many people starve and suffer. As a result, he was criticized by netizens from his home country and threatened with a boycott.
