No cults, no politics, no ghouls: how China censors the video game world
China is the world's largest market for the world's largest entertainment industry. Today, the number of Chinese gamers, about 740 million, is bigger than the entire populations of the US, Japan, Germany, France and the UK combined. Its domestic market is worth more than $45bn a year. Yet, for decades, China has had a stop-start relationship with the entire industry.
[...] Any foreign gaming companies looking to operate in China are legally obliged to have a local partner. For Chinese firms such as Tencent and NetEase, this was a goldmine. These tech giants, the Chinese equivalents of Facebook or Google, have regularly part-acquired foreign video game firms and then helped them access the lucrative Chinese gaming market. One of the first and biggest deals came in 2011 when Tencent made an agreement with the American developer Riot Games. Riot went all in, selling a 93% stake to Tencent for a reported $400m. Four years later, it sold the remaining equity and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tencent.
[...] According to the [game designer], Riot managers had provided a PowerPoint presentation that she assumed Tencent had made for them, although she didn't know for sure. The slides explained some of the hurdles they would need to overcome. First, Chinese regulators are notoriously squeamish about gambling, strong violence and nudity – not only in games, but in TV and film, too. This is partly because the country does not have an age-rating system. Daniel Camilo, a Shenzhen-based specialist in publishing games in China, has said the government's mindset is that "if something isn't fit for one person, it isn't fit for anyone".
The Chinese body responsible for censorship, the National Press and Publication Administration, has some very clear rules – no copyright infringement, for instance, and no sharing state secrets – but most of its guidelines are less precise. Works that "endanger social morality or national cultural traditions" are banned; as is media that "promote cults and feudal superstitions". This vagueness gives the censors almost unlimited power and flexibility when it comes to deciding what is and isn't allowed. Many of the rules come down to the "moral paternalism" of Beijing's leadership, says Lokman Tsui, an expert on Chinese censorship. "They really see themselves as moral authorities – not just the authority on the truth, but also the authority on morality."
In 2011, the designer at Riot learned of an unwritten rule that no video game can show characters emerging from the ground, as if rising from the dead. There were other rules of thumb, too. "There can't be exposed bones or ribs hanging out," she told me. If a game features skeletons, developers reworking it for China will simply add on flesh. Nor can games feature realistic-looking blood. "There was a vampire character, and instead of red, [the blood] had to be black," she said.
[...] Other recommendations were almost comical. "They said things like, 'they [Chinese gamers] don't really love grotesque monsters, goblins and ogres," the designer recalled. "They like the pretty, young, more anime style.'" She remembers a long discussion about "butts" and the subtle differences between drawing them for east and west. Another time, they talked about mermaids. "A mermaid is great because she has a female torso and fish bottom," she was told. "Here's what's not great: a fish head and sexy legs."
Related Stories
Accusations of "spiritual opium" sent shares of the China multinational technology group Tencent and other companies in the gaming industry tumbling on Tuesday amid fears a new regulatory chapter was about to begin.
The losses came after an article in the Economic Information Daily, which has links to China's state-controlled news agency, Xinhua, said the gaming industry, especially Tencent, was harming the nation's teens, according to media reports.
While the South China Morning Post subsequently reported the story has been taken down, investors were rattled by fears that yet another regulatory crackdown could be coming. That's even as the South China Morning Post pointed out the article didn't appear to represent Beijing's position on that industry, noting positive comments from an official recently.
See also: Tencent & Chinese Video Games Companies Rocked as State Media Calls Gaming "Spiritual Opium"
Related: No Cults, No Politics, No Ghouls: How China Censors the Video Game World
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @01:10AM (1 child)
Or are they already covered by "no cults" since they're Muslims?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @03:19AM
Fatal Error: Ethnic Group Does Not Exist
(Score: -1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @01:21AM (2 children)
Jailbait anime girls are no problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @03:20PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 24 2021, @12:38AM
You're thinking of the Japanese. The Chinese video games I've played favor adults, and generally have way less fanservice and other gratuitous nonsense. It's a shame so few get official translations, as fan mods will never reach a broad audience in the west.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @02:13AM
I see the comments are about as expected.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @02:27AM
Don't mention no covid19.
Why? Because!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @02:38AM (1 child)
The content of movies is changed for the Chinese market too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @06:12AM
Happy happy win win glorious leader lucky number 7 all's well that ends well proud to be a patriot. KILL KILL KILL.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @03:04AM (1 child)
How about guan wu cult? You know, the red-faced god-of-war cult?
(Score: 2) by TheMightyChickadee on Friday July 23 2021, @05:26AM
Only on Mars, you : 鬼佬.
(Score: 2) by jb on Friday July 23 2021, @03:24AM (1 child)
Wouldn't that mean that the Chinese Communist Party would have to ban itself? After all, it seems to fit quite neatly into at least the first two (if not all three) of those forbidden categories...
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @06:15AM
Friend your ignorance is unacceptable. Please go with the nice men to the happy education palace.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday July 23 2021, @05:40AM
BF2 was one of my favourite games. I know it is not realistic, but China is rapidly modernizing their military and playing a simulated conflict with that arsenal is more interesting than some magic North Korea or Russia.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snotnose on Friday July 23 2021, @05:46AM (1 child)
If game publishers had an ESRB category "censored for Chinese audiences".
Even better, do the same for movies.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Friday July 23 2021, @06:42AM
Akin to the current rating system that doubles as a tool to figure out whether the crap is worth watching?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fakefuck39 on Friday July 23 2021, @06:35AM (7 children)
This article is purposely misleading. It's saying the size of the market is large comparing customer count between China and the other countries. It then strangely only says the amount for China.
US game market size: $67bil
China: $45bil
as expected, the profit per customer is like 50x in the US, the gross is more in the US, so why are US companies are bowing down to China? Because they're not.
You seen a lot of games out that go against something American? See any games or movies put out by companies where all the americans are fat and uneducated, shoot at you 10 times, and your health goes down like 5%, mistakenly bomb each other, while the chinese soldier kills the fatasses with one shot?
China is a large market. If you're going to make one product, companies don't want to eliminate that market. But compared to not offending the american citizenry, or the French and the other major ones for that matter, a heck of a lot more is being taken out than they do for China. Almost like it's common sense that cutting out a 30 second useless scene irrelevant to the plot is worth it to have a larger audience.
Here's the thing with China. Yes, it's a corrupt authoritarian shithole, with no freedom of information. Their movies, their internet, their products are filtered by the government. That's what the people want - they're not being oppressed. There's even a huge Chinese-American population that chooses to live here, and still supports the censorship.
Oh, there's a tiny tiny minority that is indeed being oppressed. And that sucks. But guess what - we got tyranny of the majority in any democracy. Personally, I'm part of an elite group that thinks we need to cut army spending and size in half, always partner w/ NATO, and stop being world police. Most people don't agree, and take a huge portion of my paycheck, so billions of cash can go into Dubyas pockets, as less cash arrives in Iraq than left Arizona. How about "realID" - my DL renewal was $90, passport renewal was $110 - without one of those, you can't get on a domestic flight now.
Oppression? Yes, it is, and we seem to support it. Well the shit going down in China - they support that. Why in the world would a company make 2 product lines when they can make one? Why make 2 prints of film? They're not bowing down to anyone, just like they're not releasing movies with underage softcore porn scenes in the US, because it's legal in Russia to get head from a 14yo.
No one's bowing down to China. The target market is a global audience, and the products being made are for the target market. We have other products made just for us. Dolce & Gabbana had an ad that pissed off China, and after complaints, Stefano (founder) responded with "Yeah, but China is a country of shit." Dior appointed an HK film star as their rep to China. The German clothesmaker Philipp Plein has a shirt that says "fuck you china."
Again, no one is kissing China's ass. It's about your target audience, and sometimes that audience is global, so your supply should meet the global demand, or else why are you a company trying to sell something?
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @07:24AM (2 children)
Hey fuck, don't forget to read the Daily Fail news sometime https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8600525/Hollywood-slammed-changing-cast-plot-dialogue-settings-avoid-antagonizing-China.html [dailymail.co.uk]
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by fakefuck39 on Friday July 23 2021, @09:15AM (1 child)
Right, the entire point of my post is that this is not bowing down to China, it is making a product for a global audience. There are other products not for a global audience.
Was half a page of text too much to read for you? Does that take you several minutes? Do your autism pills make you lose focus? Try some meth.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @02:42PM
You say"global audience" which, by size, means "China."
Is your point that "American" companies are willingly going along with what China wants to make a filthy buck?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @10:25AM (3 children)
US corporations are lining up to suck the CCP's dick.
It makes them money and corrodes the economic and political power of other Americans.
They get to be the biggest rats in China's rotting garbage dump.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by fakefuck39 on Friday July 23 2021, @10:34AM (1 child)
>corrodes the economic and political power of other Americans
US corporations are what corrodes the economic and political power of other Americans. Them cutting a line in a movie earns them overseas cash, which is brought into the country, and Increases our economy. Then the companies move it to tax havens. You are a brainwashed dolt that's defending the guy stealing from you. Trump voter?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 23 2021, @02:44PM
Companies past a certain size in today's world do not identify as being from one particular country. They are globalist.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 24 2021, @03:44AM
Earning more money hence increasing our GDP and being a wealthier nation corrodes our economic power?
"They get to be the biggest rats in China's rotting garbage dump"
They get to sell a product to more people, withing spending more on the supply side, bringing China's money into the US.
That word, economics - it doesn't mean what you think it means. Economics is not "feelings" "pride" "doubling down because feelings" - it's cash - you want more. Well, we got more, of our competitor's cash, by cutting a line in a movie. For example, I see an uneducated southerner like yourself, governed by feelings, like a woman on her period. I can then take your money by saying god bless ya at my business, even though people who believe in your god are mentally disabled. I'll say it with a smile - you'll buy shit and come back, and send your idiot friends. Heck, I might sell you Christian Salt - so you feel you're standing your own against the Jews. In reality, you just don't know that to kosher is a verb, not a religious thing. Like how french is a verb meaning cut, not foreign, but you'll still pay more for freedom fries.
Manipulating an idiot into parting from his money, by making him happy, is not a sign of weakness. A business doesn't have a sign of weakness. Is weakness is if it doesn't earn more money.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Opportunist on Friday July 23 2021, @06:39AM (1 child)
In case you're serious about combating China-farmers, here's your playbook on how to do that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 24 2021, @02:51AM
Just add Winnie-the-Pooh guest appearances.