The South China Morning Post reports that this week China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) issued the country’s final batch of game licenses for 2024.
Image source: Steam (Ryder)
Among the games approved by the NPPA for release in China this time were 122 domestic and 13 foreign developments, including Ananta (NetEase), Monster Hunter Outlanders (TiMi and Capcom) and Asphalt 8: Airborne (Gameloft), which debuted back in 2013.
Based on the total for 2024, the National Press and Publication Administration of China approved 1,416 games (1,306 local and 110 foreign) for release in the country, which was the best figure in the last five years.
Ananta (image source: NetEase Games)
The last time the NPPA was so generous with licenses was in 2019 – then the authorities allowed as many as 1,570 games (1,385 local and 185 foreign). In 2020, the result was 1,411 projects (1,314 and 97).
In 2023, the figure reached 1,075 titles (977 Chinese and 98 imported), and in 2022 (468 and 44) and 2021 (679 and 76) it fell victim to China’s restrictive measures regarding video games.
Monster Hunter Outlanders (Image Source: Capcom)
Let us recall that in the summer of 2021, Beijing declared a crusade against interactive entertainment, which resulted in a nine-month suspension of the issuance of licenses for Chinese games (for foreign games the block lasted until December 2022).
The Chinese gaming industry reached 325.8 billion yuan ($44.6 billion) in 2024, which is 7.53% better than the result in 2023. The lion’s share of revenue (73%) came from the mobile segment, with the PC market in second place (11%).