In 2021, Chinese regulators launched a clampdown on video games to curb addiction among teenagers. However, the regulatory environment has since improved. New data suggests the country approved over 1,400 games in 2024 which is its largest number of game approvals since 2019.
Last year, China’s gaming regulators approved a total of 1,075 video games (977 local and 98 foreign titles). This year 1,306 domestic titles were approved while the number of approved foreign titles jumped to 110. The number of approved games has consistently increased in the past three years. In 2022, the regulators approved 468 local and 44 foreign titles.
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In December alone, China approved 122 domestic and 13 foreign video games. The details of this month’s video game approvals were announced on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), the agency in charge of licensing video games in China.
Among the games approved include NetEase’s open-world RPG, Ananta. Red Alert: Glory, developed by Tencent Holdings-backed Shanghai Yorha Technology, and Uncharted Waters: Legend, developed by Suzhou Yinghou Information Technology, are among the approved foreign games.
During the 2021 video game clampdown, the country went eight months without granting licenses to new video games. The Chinese government has also implemented harsh rules on players under 18 years old. They can only play for one hour between 8 pm and 9 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory holidays.
The latest data from the Gaming Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video Digital Publishing Association shows that sales in the country rose by 7.5% year-on-year to 325.8 billion yuan (approx. $44.6 billion) while the number of gamers increased by 1% to 674 million.
The report shows that Chinese video game developers earned $18.6 billion from overseas markets which represents a 13.4% rise compared to the previous year. Arguably the biggest of them all was Black Myth: Wukong which sold 10 million copies in three days after its launch in August.
