The Shanghai Municipal Government has outlined the regulatory framework that will allow foreign companies to manufacture and distribute game consoles and software in China.
Foreign companies with production and sales operations in the Shanghai Trial Free Trade Zone will be permitted to sell their game consoles across the entire country. Overseas firms will be required to work with a Chinese distributor or partner.
The Ministry of Culture will be responsible for regulation and approval of all game software before distribution in the marketplace. The software approval process will reportedly take no more than one month.
Regulations covering content will not permit games that promote gambling, obscenity, drug use and/or violence, infringe on Chinese government authority, laws and/or policies, as well as include racial, religious and/or cultural slander. Localisation of titles will also be in simplified Chinese (not traditional characters, as used in Taiwan and Hong Kong).
The Chinese government announced intentions to abolish the fourteen year old ban on the sales of game consoles in China last September, in conjunction with the inauguration of the free trade zone in Shanghai.
Earlier this year Microsoft confirmed plans to develop a games console and streaming content platform for China in cooperation with Chinese publisher BesTV New Media. Sony has also announced the formation of a new division dedicated to the Chinese market.
