So the other day we reported that China has somewhat lifted its ban on consoles, pretty much putting an end to a ban that lasted for a little over 13 years. That is definitely good news for companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo who are now able to start selling their products officially in the country. Prior to that, consoles could be bought albeit illegally. However it seems that despite lifting the ban, China has no plans on making it particularly easy for companies to enter the market and according to a report from Bloomberg, the country is reportedly looking to draft a new set of rules that companies need to abide by in order to be allowed to sell their products in the country.
Specifically it seems that companies are not allowed to sell products that might be viewed as hostile to China, or do not conform to the outlook of the Chinese government, and EA’s Battlefield 4’s China Rising DLC would be a prime example of what not to do. According to China’s Ministry of Culture Cai Wu, “We want to open the window a crack to get some fresh air, but we still need a screen to block the flies and mosquitoes.” It is unclear exactly how much China will police the content of the games, but in the past we have seen developers modify their games in order to make them compliant with China’s rules, such as Blizzard removing skull imagery and blood content from World of Warcraft.
Filed in . Read more about China.