The Guardian *groans* wrote up an interesting article on Video Game Censorship in China, the rules for games in that country and how game companies have to weave around and through those regulations to access that juicy half a billion large market of gamers.
The main narrative of the article is how Paradox, after being burned in 2004 in China, began what they hoped would be a much easier process of marketing their new space-based strategy game, Stellaris, in China. Back in 2004 when Paradox released Hearts of Iron III in the country, the Chinese Ministry of Culture denounced the game stating it was “distorting history and damaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” because the game depicted Tibet as an independent country on the game map. As a result the CCP confiscated large amounts of Paradox's property in China and shut down their website.
Stellaris would be different:
Paradox was so confident of success that in December 2016, it took the unusual step of announcing that it would launch in China even before a licence had been granted. “From our perspective, it should have been largely problem-free because it doesn’t deal with any nations, Chinese or otherwise,” said Jorjani. It did not pan out that way. “Working through the ministry of culture, the censorship is not a super-clear process,” said Jorjani. “It’s a bit of a black box.” Five years after its big announcement, Stellaris has never officially launched in China.
Or not...
Some of the rules established by the National Press and Publication Administration, which regulates all of this ChiCom nonsense.
The designer at Riot learned of an unwritten rule that no video game can show characters emerging from the ground, as if rising from the dead. There were other rules of thumb, too. “There can’t be exposed bones or ribs hanging out,” she told me. If a game features skeletons, developers reworking it for China will simply add on flesh. Nor can games feature realistic-looking blood. “There was a vampire character, and instead of red, [the blood] had to be black,” she said.
---
“They said things like, ‘they [Chinese gamers] don’t really love grotesque monsters, goblins and ogres,” the designer recalled. “They like the pretty, young, more anime style.’” She remembers a long discussion about “butts” and the subtle differences between drawing them for east and west. Another time, they talked about mermaids. “A mermaid is great because she has a female torso and fish bottom,” she was told. “Here’s what’s not great: a fish head and sexy legs... There are games that are supposedly catering to the female market, but most female players find them very shallow and sexist.”
---
One of the highest-grossing video games of all time, the Korean-developed PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), was not officially released in China because it was deemed too violent, with players killing each other until the lone survivor is declared a winner. In 2017, Tencent partnered with the Korean developer, promising to ensure that the game accords “with socialist core values, Chinese traditional culture and moral rules”. Getting past the regulators required creating a completely new game. Peacekeeper Elite, as the modified version was called, had no blood and no death – when a player was eliminated, they simply kneeled and waved goodbye before vanishing.
---
On a more positive note... or perhaps not.
Paradox is not willing to compromise. “As a company, we’re very clear what our values are. We are pro-democracy,” Jorjani said. A handful of other big names in the industry have taken a similar stance. After the Blizzard controversy, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, said it would never prevent someone from expressing their political views. This was particularly striking, as Tencent owns 40% of Epic. Still, the company’s founder, Tim Sweeney, is in the rare position of being a controlling shareholder, which allows him to take a clear ideological stance. After the Blizzard ban, Sweeney said on Twitter: “That will never happen on my watch.” Another studio, Czech developer Bohemia Interactive, which sold an undisclosed minority stake to Tencent in February, has also committed to freedom of expression.
These developers are the exceptions. In a sign of just how anxious companies are about discussing China, most firms contacted with requests for interviews for this article refused, including Tencent, NetEase, Riot Games, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft (“the topic is quite sensitive”), GOG (“kindly decline to make any further comments on the topic”) and Krafton. Even companies that have, as recently as 2019, pledged to uphold free speech, such as Wizards of the Coast and Immutable, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did the the Chinese government and regulator.
---
(backup archive link)
www.theguardian.com
The main narrative of the article is how Paradox, after being burned in 2004 in China, began what they hoped would be a much easier process of marketing their new space-based strategy game, Stellaris, in China. Back in 2004 when Paradox released Hearts of Iron III in the country, the Chinese Ministry of Culture denounced the game stating it was “distorting history and damaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” because the game depicted Tibet as an independent country on the game map. As a result the CCP confiscated large amounts of Paradox's property in China and shut down their website.
Stellaris would be different:
Paradox was so confident of success that in December 2016, it took the unusual step of announcing that it would launch in China even before a licence had been granted. “From our perspective, it should have been largely problem-free because it doesn’t deal with any nations, Chinese or otherwise,” said Jorjani. It did not pan out that way. “Working through the ministry of culture, the censorship is not a super-clear process,” said Jorjani. “It’s a bit of a black box.” Five years after its big announcement, Stellaris has never officially launched in China.
Or not...
Some of the rules established by the National Press and Publication Administration, which regulates all of this ChiCom nonsense.
The designer at Riot learned of an unwritten rule that no video game can show characters emerging from the ground, as if rising from the dead. There were other rules of thumb, too. “There can’t be exposed bones or ribs hanging out,” she told me. If a game features skeletons, developers reworking it for China will simply add on flesh. Nor can games feature realistic-looking blood. “There was a vampire character, and instead of red, [the blood] had to be black,” she said.
---
“They said things like, ‘they [Chinese gamers] don’t really love grotesque monsters, goblins and ogres,” the designer recalled. “They like the pretty, young, more anime style.’” She remembers a long discussion about “butts” and the subtle differences between drawing them for east and west. Another time, they talked about mermaids. “A mermaid is great because she has a female torso and fish bottom,” she was told. “Here’s what’s not great: a fish head and sexy legs... There are games that are supposedly catering to the female market, but most female players find them very shallow and sexist.”
---
One of the highest-grossing video games of all time, the Korean-developed PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), was not officially released in China because it was deemed too violent, with players killing each other until the lone survivor is declared a winner. In 2017, Tencent partnered with the Korean developer, promising to ensure that the game accords “with socialist core values, Chinese traditional culture and moral rules”. Getting past the regulators required creating a completely new game. Peacekeeper Elite, as the modified version was called, had no blood and no death – when a player was eliminated, they simply kneeled and waved goodbye before vanishing.
---
On a more positive note... or perhaps not.
Paradox is not willing to compromise. “As a company, we’re very clear what our values are. We are pro-democracy,” Jorjani said. A handful of other big names in the industry have taken a similar stance. After the Blizzard controversy, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, said it would never prevent someone from expressing their political views. This was particularly striking, as Tencent owns 40% of Epic. Still, the company’s founder, Tim Sweeney, is in the rare position of being a controlling shareholder, which allows him to take a clear ideological stance. After the Blizzard ban, Sweeney said on Twitter: “That will never happen on my watch.” Another studio, Czech developer Bohemia Interactive, which sold an undisclosed minority stake to Tencent in February, has also committed to freedom of expression.
These developers are the exceptions. In a sign of just how anxious companies are about discussing China, most firms contacted with requests for interviews for this article refused, including Tencent, NetEase, Riot Games, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft (“the topic is quite sensitive”), GOG (“kindly decline to make any further comments on the topic”) and Krafton. Even companies that have, as recently as 2019, pledged to uphold free speech, such as Wizards of the Coast and Immutable, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did the the Chinese government and regulator.
---
(backup archive link)
No cults, no politics, no ghouls: how China censors the video game world
The long read: China’s video game market is the world’s biggest. International developers want in on it – but its rules on what is acceptable are growing increasingly harsh. Is it worth the compromise?
www.theguardian.com
