Chinese Censors Deal Blow to Korean Game Developers
11 December, 2018
The Chinese government has dealt a blow to struggling Korean game developers by tightening a crackdown on computer game addiction.
China is even revoking the existing licenses of some video games, while refusing to give the green light to fresh games entering the market.
China's state-run news agency Xinhua on Monday said the Chinese government has recently set up an online game ethics committee that has so far screened 20 computer games and canceled the licenses for nine of them. The remaining 11 have been sent back for revisions and will then be scrutinized again.
Chinese authorities earlier this year toughened regulation by halting the issuance of new game licenses and capping the daily time teenagers are allowed to play games.
The committee did not reveal which games have been banned.
One staffer at a Korean game developer said, "No developer in Korea has been notified of cancellations yet, but if existing games are also banned, the situation will be catastrophic."
Nexon makes about W1 trillion a year in China from the online game Dungeon Fighter, which is in service there with Tencent (US$1=W1,128). Smilegate makes 80 percent of the sales of CrossFire from China.
Wi Jong-hyun at Chungang University said, "If China is intent on protecting its own game industry, there is a chance that it will use any excuse to halt Korean game developers from offering services in China."
Korea's big game developers all saw their earnings shrink this year, and smaller companies are struggling to pay their staff, so the vast Chinese market is an indispensable lifeline.