China puts in policy to discourage foreign MMOs

by Chris Chester Jan 24th 2008 @ 4:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry

That's not entirely accurate, the company has to have done something wrong for GAPP to suspend the license. Blizzard haven't been taken to court yet, and the Chinese company that publishes and hosts WoW in China hasn't had anything filed against them either, so it's not going to get a suspension on WoW.

NCSoft has had legal issues in the past, but I doubt settled issues would affect it.

This really doesn't mean anything, it's basically saying any company that is under active legal action will have it's license to operate in China suspended until such legal action is resolved. Which makes perfect sense to me, criminals shouldn't be allowed to continue operating anywhere.

Originally posted by bobfish

That's not entirely accurate, the company has to have done something wrong for GAPP to suspend the license. Blizzard haven't been taken to court yet, and the Chinese company that publishes and hosts WoW in China hasn't had anything filed against them either, so it's not going to get a suspension on WoW.

NCSoft has had legal issues in the past, but I doubt settled issues would affect it.

This really doesn't mean anything, it's basically saying any company that is under active legal action will have it's license to operate in China suspended until such legal action is resolved. Which makes perfect sense to me, criminals shouldn't be allowed to continue operating anywhere.

In other words, local company files a complaint and western game is delayed indefinitely.

Thank God I don't live in a communist paradise!

I suppose it would be a loss, but we are talking about a country where the potential for profit is actually quite low, at least on a per subscription basis.

The national per capital income in China is $1780 US.  (though some reports show it as high as $5700)

www.china-embassy.org/eng/xw/t268200.htm

Only due to the fact there are so many people can you even make a decent business case to sell there.  Of course, there's a huge income disparity there (as in all places) so the people living in the cities have more income to spend than the large population base living in the rural areas.

Sure, you can sell 5.5 million subs there like WOW did, but after splitting the profit with The Nine I'm sure they get a pittance compared to their 5 million US/EU market.

So yeah, its a loss, but if I was a game maker I'd much rather figure out how to penetrate the South Korean or Japanese markets, far more potential for income in those two countries.

read this article

www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IG11Cb01.html

the total income of city-dwellers may be more than half a trillion. i'm sure that means the market for mmos is bigger than the 10 million us/eu market of WoW.

national income is low in china, but china also has the largest wealth disparity in the world. MMOs are a big market, and likely to grow astronomically in the future. I would say this may even be as serious as when that chinese company stole the Blackberry or as serious as cheap chinese cars in western markets.

I have my doubts as to whether China growing into a free market paradise is a good thing for anyone. In the absence of real freedom all you will get is a few very wealthy people, and I don't see the Chinese government being able to control that type of beast. My company does some business with China, and there are more restrictions to work there. I see this a good thing.

good... i don't wanna play their shitty asian goldselling games either.

Originally posted by theniffrig

Thank God I don't live in a communist paradise!

Which is a quite disturbing description for a dictatorship.

Originally posted by Rickeh

read this article

www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IG11Cb01.html

the total income of city-dwellers may be more than half a trillion. i'm sure that means the market for mmos is bigger than the 10 million us/eu market of WoW.

national income is low in china, but china also has the largest wealth disparity in the world. MMOs are a big market, and likely to grow astronomically in the future. I would say this may even be as serious as when that chinese company stole the Blackberry or as serious as cheap chinese cars in western markets.

Um, a very large % of that 10 million is Chinese players. NA/EU are the minority when it comes to WoWs' sub numbers.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by Rickeh

read this article

www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IG11Cb01.html

the total income of city-dwellers may be more than half a trillion. i'm sure that means the market for mmos is bigger than the 10 million us/eu market of WoW.

national income is low in china, but china also has the largest wealth disparity in the world. MMOs are a big market, and likely to grow astronomically in the future. I would say this may even be as serious as when that chinese company stole the Blackberry or as serious as cheap chinese cars in western markets.

Um, a very large % of that 10 million is Chinese players. NA/EU are the minority when it comes to WoWs' sub numbers.

"Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft has recently passed 10 million subscribers worldwide since its launch on November 23, 2004. According to Blizzard, WoW now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia."

Originally posted by Adamantine

 

Originally posted by theniffrig

Thank God I don't live in a communist paradise!

... which means you actually called China a paradise, right ?

 

Which is a quite disturbing description for a dictatorship.

And I'm glad not to live in the usa, i dont like warmongers very much =)

And I'm glad not to live in the usa, i dont like warmongers very much =)

Freedom of expression and freedom of action is perhaps the most important criteria for judging a nation or government.

Originally posted by Kilmar

Originally posted by Adamantine

 

Originally posted by theniffrig

Thank God I don't live in a communist paradise!

... which means you actually called China a paradise, right ?

 

Which is a quite disturbing description for a dictatorship.

And I'm glad not to live in the usa, i dont like warmongers very much =)

Ohh..there comes the voice of people that live in corporate paradise

The grievance filed against the foreign company must be valid. This isn't some scam by the government, it's designed to combat the criminal element of illegal MMO importers, specifially those unwilling to enforce the laws on time usage of MMOs. It is also designed to combat the increasing number of foreign companies who permit Chinese players on their servers without having a license to operate the product in China.

You can't just walk in and say "I don't like Blizzard, shut them down", you have to have a legal reason why they should investigate and potentially prosecute Blizzard.

Go research the similiar laws they have in place for the other industries, it's no where near as condemning as you make it out to be. You're just looking for an excuse to bash the Chinese.

Originally posted by Kilmar

Originally posted by Adamantine

 

Originally posted by theniffrig

Thank God I don't live in a communist paradise!

... which means you actually called China a paradise, right ?

 

Which is a quite disturbing description for a dictatorship.

And I'm glad not to live in the usa, i dont like warmongers very much =)

Yeah because no one in the history of Europe / Germany ever made war on anyone, right? Only self defense.

tis doesn't actually mean that mmo's WILL be banned in china. but it would prolly be better western players if they where.

PS: this stuff happens because its a dictatorship, again NOTHING to do with communism. learn what communism actually is before assuming its the devil.

Originally posted by Zorvan

 

China puts in policy to discourage foreign MMOs

by Chris Chester Jan 24th 2008 @ 4:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry

China has always been a market that businesses have stumbled over each other to secure. Students of history might remember how Coca-Cola was one of the first companies to recognize the fact that a country with a billion people is a country with a billion potential customers, and was literally right on the heels of President Carter when negotiations relaxed the restriction of foreign goods in 1979. So too are MMO makers starting to realize the enormous potential of an increasingly connected Chinese mainland. Sure, World of Warcraft's 10 million subscribers seems good now, but what happens when a game comes along that captures the attention of the Chinese market, estimated to grow to 59 million in 2008?

Unfortunately for developers in the U.S., Korea, and elsewhere looking to cash in on this burgeoning market, recent regulations imposed by the Chinese government will allow domestic Chinese gaming companies to effectively postpone the release of foreign-developed games indefinitely by submitting a complaint to GAPP, China's censorship agency. Curious that they'd run a protectionist racket on an industry that they recently likened to "spiritual opium," but the Communist government didn't take power in order to be a bedrock of consistency.

The political science major in me is actually excited by this prospect, because it means that MMOs are likely about to enter into the field of political discourse. Just as they do with farm goods and automobiles, it might not be too much of a stretch to imagine U.S. politicians publicly wrangling with Chinese officials to allow American MMOs unrestricted access to the Chinese population. In the next few years, it's possible your Congressman will talk, at length about World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online in front of one of the chambers of Congress. And this time they'll actually be speaking in favor of the game industry. What a thought!

www.massively.com/2008/01/24/china-puts-in-policy-to-discourage-foreign-MMOs/

I'll laugh my ass off if one of their national game companies complains about WoW, forcing Blizzard to remove it from China. Wonder how many subs they'll be able to claim, then?

Personally, I've wanted to see China boycotted and IP banned for quite awhile. Nice to see the Chinese government agrees and is doing it for me.

Politics/trade .... umm yeah think WTO - the US is presently being penalized for it's e-gambling policy, the penalties are not enough to bring about change.

Do you seriously think China is going to care about US politicians making noise about the US gaming industry???? Give me a break - play less, immerse in the world more. China is busy filling orbit with tiny pieces of satellite and practicing cyber-warfare exercises and you think they would give 2 pieces of online gold about US politicians?  [and they sure snuck up on those US subs a while back lol]

China can do what they want with their internal policies and others have to cater, beg, bribe, or placate them if they want a piece of the Chinese consumer - end of story, el fin

More than likely some of the entrepreneus, greedy citizens, and government personnel there all want a piece of the  $$$-pie ; by making it difficult or creating an environment where it may be difficult to carry on business as an "outsider" they then more or less force a path of least resistance towards  setting up shop in China or purchasing or co-branding with a subsidiary corporate entity in China.  Companies still can turn a fair profit and so do some crafty peeps in China who co-distribute or co-develop the games for release there. 

Thuggery and coercion by law :)

x

The new rule is easy to circumvent (or rather has a legal loophole), partner with a local game company in distributing and developing western brand games. Since the regulation only applies to "foreign companies" (aka companies which are incorporated outside china) then it would not affect the western games going into china but it does add a certain hurdle. China has a huge massive market potential (300 million potential consumers out of 1.5 billion people -- a number counting those with internet access and that number is growing rapidly every year). The implications of this rule is of course to provide advantage to the local game development market and may force many western companies to partner with a local company, all in all China wins either way @_@

Originally posted by bobfish

The grievance filed against the foreign company must be valid. This isn't some scam by the government, it's designed to combat the criminal element of illegal MMO importers, specifially those unwilling to enforce the laws on time usage of MMOs. It is also designed to combat the increasing number of foreign companies who permit Chinese players on their servers without having a license to operate the product in China.

You can't just walk in and say "I don't like Blizzard, shut them down", you have to have a legal reason why they should investigate and potentially prosecute Blizzard.

Go research the similiar laws they have in place for the other industries, it's no where near as condemning as you make it out to be. You're just looking for an excuse to bash the Chinese.

When has the Chinese government ever needed a "legal reason" to do anything? You keep spouting that I am wrong about my interpretation of the law as presented in the OP article. So, by all means, show me where you are getting your info. Show me where I am wrong.

You want me to research similar laws in place for other industries? The online gaming industry is different than textiles, tainted wheat gluten, illegal lead in paint for childrens toys , and other Chinese industries; so there is no way to compare online gaming to other industries. But if you want to compare the fairness and legal reckoning the Chinese will apply to this law in contrast to every other "law" they make which can be used to shut down whoever they want, I will. And the comparison is not favorable.

Originally posted by Consensus

tis doesn't actually mean that mmo's WILL be banned in china. but it would prolly be better western players if they where.

PS: this stuff happens because its a dictatorship, again NOTHING to do with communism. learn what communism actually is before assuming its the devil.

I agree with you that communism itself as originally presented by Marx in and of itself is not a bad thing. However, most of us use the term communism in the same light as we used  for Communist Russia. It is a perversed and twisted version of communism granting the government the control of everything, whereas true communism was meant to place everyone on an equal footing, a fair division of labor and resources for the good of the whole, not the benefit of the few. Unfortunately, communism will never be allowed in its true form while any person or group of people can hold a place of power. That was the fatal flaw in Marxs' theories.