Game developers have a lot to keep in mind as they create their new IPs. Character design, maps, names, music, coding, troubleshooting, among countless other duties-- what looks good to us, what will our players like, and most importantly, for Chinese developers, what will the government permit. According to a 2010 PPT (still in use as... Continue Reading →
Laws for Arcades and Net Cafes
Wondering why you can't walk to a net cafe after school to play some games of League or DotA after your middle school classes? Want to go to an arcade tonight but forgot your ID? Frustrated that GTA continues to be banned? China has some strict laws regarding location and operation of "electronic games centers"... Continue Reading →
Less Clothes, More Cute: Objectification of Female Streamers
In the past couple months, video game streamers have been the focus of some concern. As a result of the rise in streaming video platforms (such as twitch.tv), and a trend of hyper-competition, the worth of many professional streamers has soared so that annual salaries of a million or tens of millions of RMB isn't... Continue Reading →
Vice and Video Games
Guys paying girls to play video games with them isn't a totally new idea (see: GameCrush). The idea is, you pay a girl or an intermediary company a certain amount and in return you get a girl to play video games with you (usually an online game), including full text/voice chat. In China, this service... Continue Reading →
Games in China Must Follow Chinese Laws
We've all heard the stories of "harmonization" (the euphemism for censorship) of western games imported into China, like skulls in World of Warcraft turning into sacks of flour, or skeletons into straw-men. However, censorship of games in China goes beyond censoring dead bodies, and guidelines exist that developers must follow in order for the government... Continue Reading →
China’s NewBee Wins the International Dota 2 Championship
Sixteen of the top Dota teams competed this past weekend in the fourth International Dota 2 Championship in Seattle, with Chinese team NewBee bringing home a grand prize of $5,028,308 USD. They defeated another Chinese team, Vici Gaming, three games to one in the best-of-five final round. China also won the International in 2012 with... Continue Reading →
Heroes of Order and Chaos
This screenshot, posted to Reddit's gaming board, is taken from the iOS MOBA (multi-player online battle arena; eg: League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients) game Heroes of Order and Chaos. This reflects what gamers in China have been struggling with for some time now-- basically that they are not a part of the... Continue Reading →
PS4 and Xbox One: Chinese Gamers Follow the Massacre
The execution-style murder of the Xbox One by Sony's E3 press conference hasn't escaped the notice of the Chinese bloggers. Games.QQ reported on the audience reaction at Sony's conference, noting that after announcing that the PS4 will not impose any new restrictions on use, Jack Tretton (president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America)... Continue Reading →
Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Approved for Chinese Release
UPDATE June 9, 2013: For a brief time, the Chinese Battle.Net website was changed to more closely resemble the US and Taiwan versions, including replacing Raynor's icon in the SCII logo with Kerrigan as a way to promote Heart of the Swarm. However, it was quickly changed back to the original layout, likely because a... Continue Reading →
The Decline of the Domestic Game? China-Made Classics Go Online
Some people believe that China’s single-player domestic market is being ruined by the growing influence of online games. However this is not the case; instead, domestic games are riding this “wave” of networkization. Here are a few examples of popular and "classic" Chinese-made game franchises that have already been adapted for the online market. JX... Continue Reading →