Microsoft Finds Legal Path To Launch Minecraft In China (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Minecraft's PC and smartphone versions are finally coming to China. On Friday, Microsoft and Mojang announced the beginning of a "five-year exclusive partnership" with Chinese software publisher NetEase, Inc to roll the game out onto Chinese computer and smartphone marketplaces. Microsoft was able to publish the game on Xbox One consoles late last year, but those consoles have yet to penetrate the Chinese market to the extent that PCs and smartphones have, and the fact that even Microsoft had to license the game to someone else as opposed to launching it from its own Shanghai campus is a stern reminder of what roadblocks stand in the way of Western software developers. "The most challenging aspect of doing business in China by far is dealing with the government," former PopCap executive James Gwertzman said at the 2010 Game Developers Conference. Game publishers must acquire a combined six permits to launch a game in China, and most of those permits cannot be acquired by foreign-operated companies. Microsoft is presumably in the exact same regulatory boat, and its choice of partner is telling; NetEase already has a major Western-gaming reputation thanks to its partnership with megawatt game makers Blizzard. Gwertzman guessed that Minecraft will probably avoid such undue attention with its upcoming launch. "Minecraft is on the good side as it encourages teamwork and learning," he said. "I see Minecraft as the perfect example of a game that will receive public support [in China]." Meanwhile, American technology companies like Apple and Microsoft are undergoing security reviews in the communist country.

Comments

Re:It's protectionism

[JBMcB]

It's because China is using a protectionist practice.

Western scholars figured out the problem with this practice hundreds of years ago. Problem is - it screws with your money supply something fierce. You end up having to radically manipulate your money supply, and you wind up with deflation and endless stimulus spending. Japan did the same thing in the 70's and 80's, and they've been paying for it over the last two decades (stagflation in the 90's-2000's, deflation since then.) China's turn is coming up soon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Tell that to Huawei

[ArmoredDragon]

I think the reason for that is that this kind of gear is critical infrastructure gear, and Huawei, like any Chinese company, is ultimately beholden to the demands of their government. Other countries avoid Cisco for a slightly different reason. Cisco isn't beholden to the US government, however the problem is that their gear ships from the US, which means that there's nothing stopping the US government from adulterating it some time between when it leaves Cisco's hands and ends up in its customer's hands, and even though they're technically not allowed to do that, they do it anyways.

Re:Tell that to Huawei

[AK Marc]

Cisco is beholden to the US government, and doesn't ship from the US. My SG made Cisco gear never passes through the US. Huawei has never had a vulnerability found that didn't come from copying Cisco. It's Cisco that deliberately puts them there.