Could amateur porn stop game consoles from coming to China?

The Xbox One and the PS4 are remarkable machines, even if I did say you shouldn’t buy either one of them. Both of them have all kinds of interesting sharing options, including the ability to stream gameplay video to friends and to Twitch.tV.

Unfortunately, as you may have seen, the combination of built-in cameras and easy streaming technology has already inspired a few PS4 owners to stream their own amateur porno live using the console’s built-in camera. Twitch.tv is busy blocking users who do this, of course. But it’s not clear if there will be any reliable way of blocking users from doing this on either system once Xbox One gets its streaming features up and running

Pornography is illegal in China, and while Chinese authorities could simply block the online streaming services associated with these consoles, if porno-streaming on consoles becomes common — or if it becomes a hot topic in the media — this debate could quickly become less about practical solutions and more about public appearances. At that point, whether or not this “amateur console porn” is easily blocked won’t really matter; it will be easily twisted into a political debate over corrupting foreign forms of entertainment and their negative influence on China’s youth. In short, if either system gets the reputation of being a porno machine, I highly doubt it will be released in China, regardless of what the government has said about the Shanghai free trade zone.

In fact, Chinese commenters are already speculating on the possibility that this news could affect the China launch of the consoles. “Don’t cancel it!” wrote several commenters. “I want to buy a PS4 now,” wrote another. One commenter satirized what a potential government response to this might look like, with a humorous twist at the end:

Too pornographic, the imperialists use this sort of rubbish to corrode our [Chinese people’s] spirits. As to this incident, I have but one thing to say: which kindhearted soul can give me a download link?

Of course, it’s quite possible that neither company is planning to release their global consoles in China anyway. Both Microsoft and Sony have suggested they’re working on something for China now that game consoles are legal, but it may be jumping to conclusions to assume that means the PS4 or Xbox One will be release in China. It seems possible, even likely, that Sony and Microsoft are working on customized versions of their machines targeted at China’s gaming market. And I’d be willing to bet that when those consoles do come, they won’t have the same streaming and sharing features their global counterparts have, in part for just this reason.

In the outside world, people streaming porn is a minor embarrassment for Sony and Microsoft, but in China it would be both a crime and potentially an excuse for Chinese authorities to enact further restrictions on overseas gaming companies, since both companies are foreign. Yes, Chinese smut-peddlers have plenty of domestic video streaming options to choose from too, but if this is turned into a political issue — as it very well could be — that won’t matter at all. Here’s hoping that it never comes to that.

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