Life for gamers in China remains complicated. Despite the country having allowed the production of new games in the territory after 9 months of stoppage, Tencent, one of the largest gamers conglomerates in the world, has just announced a strict measure to bar Chinese access to unapproved foreign games.
Last Wednesday (13), the Chinese company confirmed that it will update its game acceleration tool for desktop and mobile devices on May 31. As a result, the update will only support titles operated in China and will no longer allow access to gringa games.
Image: 大 神/Unsplash
understand the change
To understand the relevance of the case, it is necessary to understand the Chinese situation. Unlike many regions, the Asian country only allows the play of foreign titles approved by the government. Games are not explicitly blocked, but internet connections are much slower for these games.
In 2018, Tencent — as well as NetErase — released a tool to boost Chinese internet speeds. Like it or not, this was used as a loophole so locals could access games like GTA or Animal Crossing with minimally decent connections.
But with the new announcement, that will be virtually impossible. As before, foreign games and servers will not be blocked in practice. But the low connections to these titles and high ping will certainly turn players away from these games.
China’s restrictions on the gaming industry
Image: Rawpixel
Tencent refused to justify the move. But that doesn’t sound like much news. Even because the gamer industry in China has been suffering blows after blows.
It is worth remembering that, last year, the Chinese government limited the days and hours that minors can play. For these individuals, a maximum limit of three hours of gaming per week was determined – one hour per day on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and, occasionally, holidays.
In addition, the country has banned “violent content” and “Western trends” in games in the country and has banned some competitions (such as a PUBG: Battlegrounds tournament). Even Fortnite, one of the most popular games today, closed its doors in China in 2021.
Image: Vlad Gorshkov/Unsplash
This week, the territory even started releasing new game productions after long months of stoppage, but still, only 45 titles have been approved so far – normally, about 1,200 game licenses are granted annually in the country.
Everything indicates that the situation of the game industry in China will get more and more complicated. Sad news for a region full of high-level players, good productions and a very strong competitive scene.
Via: Reuters
