Tencent, NetEase Games get a green light in china

China’s National Press and Publication Administration is in charge of video game licensing, and yesterday, March 20, it announced the approval of 27 titles. The list of 27 games includes Tencent, NetEase, and Bilibili.

The Chinese government has given the companies a commercial license to broadcast online games. As a result, the development of new games and developers’ success directly influence their acquisition.

Approval of commercial licenses for video games in China

Approval of commercial licenses for video games in China must go through a governmental procedure. Before games are made available to the country’s users and officially start operating, these titles must complete the licensing process according to China’s laws.

All titles not developed in China and want to be launched in the territory must be officially approved. To do so, the first thing companies must do is apply to publish online game works, which the copyright owner of the title must authorize.

Likewise, companies must comply with other extra requirements, among which they must describe exactly which devices the title is played. In addition, the number of users, when and where the game was launched, market revenue, and social impact, among many other questions.

Then to finally get an application approved by the National Copyright Administration of China, the developer must make a registration application and have the copyright files. This way, finally, the companies can apply for approval of the game.

Tencent and NetEase’s applications approved

According to a list provided by the regulator on Monday, Tencent has at least one game included in the imported online games that have received approval. The approved game is Merge Mansion.

On the other hand, the same list shows that NetEase has been approved for at least one mobile game called Audition: Everyone Party. In addition, the company Bilibili has been approved for Shanyao! Youjunshaonu.

We are talking about the second batch of international games that have acquired licenses to publish in China. But unfortunately, the approval process for these companies was delayed for about 18 months due to the country’s energy measures.

However, the approval of some imported titles marked the end of these energy measures against video games. Game licensing would resume for the first time in several years.

Since the resumption of licenses to China, several outstanding games have arrived, such as Fairy Tale: Fighting and Yo-kai Watch 4.

On the other hand, it is known that Tencent not only has the game licenses but is now in talks with Meta Platforms to be able to distribute its VR headsets in China.

Header: Tencent Games