Console games will be censored in China. Here's how:

So we know that console gaming will finally be coming to China officially thanks to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. But like all entertainment products officially released in China, console games will be subject to the scrutiny from China’s Ministry of Culture. Yesterday, China’s Ministry of Culture released a document on its website that outlines the rules for console games, which are the same as for many other entertainment products. Here’s what’s not allowed:

1. Games that violate China’s constitution
2. Games that jeopardize national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity
3. Games that harm national security, or damage the nation’s reputation or interests
4. Games that incite or touch on any kind of racial or ethnic tensions in China
5. Games that violate China’s religious policies by promoting cults or superstitions
6. Games that promulgate illegal behavior related to obscenity, gambling, violence, drugs, or that instigate such crimes
7. Games that violate public ethics or China’s cultural traditions
8. Games that slander others
9. Games that contain other content illegal under Chinese law

While many of these restrictions seem reasonable, they could rule out the release of a lot of games. The second restriction, for example, will make illegal any game containing a world map that doesn’t mark all of China’s disputed territories as Chinese — including Taiwan, which is widely considered a separate country outside of the PRC. This could eliminate all kinds of games, even perfectly innocuous ones that just happen to contain a world map China’s authorities don’t like.

The fifth restriction is likely to rule out a lot of horror games, as China’s Ministry of Culture tends to view things like ghouls and zombies as superstitious. This is the reason China doesn’t have much of a horror film industry, and it is also the root cause behind the censorship of some Western PC games like World of Warcraft, which had skin added to its skeletons prior to its release in China.

The sixth restriction is also likely to rule out many of console gaming’s most controversial titles, almost certainly including the best-selling Grand Theft Auto series, the popular Yakuza series, and the excellent Sleeping Dogs.

But of course, how these rules are interpreted will be up to Chinese officials; they’re quite broad and could be used to rule out almost any console game authorities don’t like. It’s also worth pointing out that in other forms of entertainment, the Ministry of Culture’s approval process can be long and difficult. It’s likely that when consoles come to China officially, they’re not likely going to be able to offer their full game libraries. Probably, they’ll only be able to offer a small minority of games officially, in the same way that only a couple dozen foreign films are released officially in China each year.

Unofficially, of course, the grey market will be as full of games as it has ever been. Personally, I don’t think this will matter much; I have argued repeatedly that China dropping the console ban isn’t likely to change Chinese gaming habits. But even if it does, Chinese gamers (and foreign devs) should not be expecting a full slate of console releases in China. It seems China’s Ministry of Culture plans to make sure that Free Trade Zone or no, it will retain a lot of control over what games are allowed into the country.

(Via Netease Games)