China To Force Changes To 20 Popular Games, Ban 9 Including Fortnite and PUBG (bbc.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A panel of censors set up to vet mobile video games in China has signaled it will be hard to please. State media reports that of the first 20 titles it assessed, nine were refused permission to go on sale. The Xinhua news agency added that developers of the other 11 had been told they had to make adjustments to remove "controversial content." The authorities have voiced concerns about the violent nature of some titles as well as worries about the activity being addictive.

It was announced in August that a new body -- the State Administration of Press and Publications -- had taken over responsibility for approving games and that it would limit the number of online titles available. And although it has not been specified, some experts are assuming that the new panel will operate under its auspices. Xinhua said it is comprised of gaming experts, government-employed researchers, and representatives from the media and video games industry. But it provided no other information about who they were or the titles they had already examined. UPDATE: The list of games being examined by the ethics panel has been revealed by users on NGA, a Chinese gaming forum. A number of games, such as League of Legends, Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft, will need "corrective action," while others will be "banned/withdrawn" entirely. Some of the most popular prohibited titles include Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).

Comments

Maybe they are right this time

[lucasnate1]

When I see how crazily obsessed children are with Fortnite, when I see some adults here, comparing a Fortnite ban to human rights violation, it makes me think that maybe banning this shit would be a good thing.

GROW. UP.

(And if we have to talk about what china are doing, let's talk about their violations of human rights)

Re:Maybe they are right this time

[Oswald McWeany]

When I see how crazily obsessed children are with Fortnite, when I see some adults here, comparing a Fortnite ban to human rights violation, it makes me think that maybe banning this shit would be a good thing.

I hate Fortnight and PUBG and that whole genre of FPS games too!

That's not what the worry is about, the worry is about yet another form of censorship from the world's largest market that will have impacts on us. It's getting to the point that what happens in China matters for the rest of the world. Just like people all over the world watch the American elections and dread which nincompoop gets elected this time, we're all going to start paying attention to China more- what China says and does has ripple effects throughout the world. Any move from China in the wrong direction means (in this global era) that it will impact what we have access to. And yes, Fortnight might be ridiculous crap, but even if you're more highbrow, your opera might be next, the ending has to change, or your films (no Asian allowed to be depicted as a villain- no capitalist or democratic sentiment in films).

China is big enough now that the problems of China's citizens are our problems.

Re:Maybe they are right this time

[Opportunist]

IN China? Very few. FOR China? Very many.

China is a huge market. And unlike the Euro/US market it is growing, rapidly so. And a market that the big studios still don't sell well in.

Fanboys will gobble up next year's "Generic Game Title 19". They have shown time and again that they will, no matter whether the game is any good. They buy it. And defend it tooth and nail against anyone pointing out that the quality has been deteriorating for years. They will buy GGT19 even if it's a weak port of a phone game (because phone games is what sells in China).

But the Chinese will only buy GGT19 if it's a phone game.

So take a wild guess what GGT19 will be.

Re:Don't Sell to China...

[Applehu Akbar]

Middle-class Chinese are traveling a lot these days. Let tourists discover what despite their new prosperity they can no longer have at home.

Re:Don't Sell to China...

[Oswald McWeany]

Middle-class Chinese are traveling a lot these days. Let tourists discover what despite their new prosperity they can no longer have at home.

It is harder to organize dissent when everything you do is tracked and recorded. Not saying it won't happen, but it's a lot harder to organize a protest now than it was in the 1980's.