Presentation
While encouraging foreign investment for many years, China is gradually transforming the appeal of its global market into a bargaining chip, imposing increasingly stringent obligations on various sectors.
Faced with the immense size of its digital market, with its 1.3 billion inhabitants, the Chinese government is progressively tightening its policy of controlling content published within its borders. Following the removal of applications circumventing the Chinese firewall in 2017, and more recently those enabling the tracking of police movements during the Hong Kong protests, it is now the video game sector with in-app purchases that is under attack from the Chinese Communist Party.
With a significant presence in China, Apple, one of the tech giants, is also forced to cooperate and comply with the demands and obligations issued by the Chinese government, under threat of sanctions with potentially catastrophic consequences. In fact, during 2019, Apple’s mobile games generated €10.5 billion in revenue in China, representing 52% of the total revenue of the Chinese mobile phone games market.
Control of microtransactions in video games
Between June and July 2020, Apple users in China saw a large number of mobile game titles removed at the request of the authorities. Representing up to 2,500 titles since mid-June (some sources even cite 8,000 games), which had generated a cumulative revenue of nearly $35 million and 133 million downloads in the country, this measure notably affected titles such as “Hay Day,” the agricultural hit from Finnish publisher Supercel, owned by the Chinese company Tencent, “Nonstop Chuck Norris” from Flaregames, and “Solitaire” from Zynga.
Some estimates put Apple’s financial loss at around $900 million, along with significant financial difficulties for the developers and independent studios affected by the forced removal of their apps.
The reason for this closure is that Chinese legislation, since 2016, requires publishers to obtain a mandatory and paid license for the possibility of purchases and transactions within the video game.
The license allows for the issuance of an ISBN number obtained from the country’s General Administration of Press and Publication. Companies concerned must undergo an approval process with the country’s General Administration of Press and Publication and sign a licensing agreement through a Chinese agency, a process that is particularly expensive for foreign companies.
While this requirement has been met by app stores based on the Android application system in China since 2016, Apple has managed to circumvent it to date.
As a reminder, starting in the 2000s, China implemented a very restrictive policy regarding video game consumption by its citizens, notably prohibiting the production, import, and sale of game consoles and arcade machines until 2015.
From March to December 2018, Chinese authorities also halted the licensing of video games, delaying the launch of several major titles such as Fortnite, Call of Duty Mobile, and PUBG. 2019 was marked by a ban on video games for minors after 10 PM.
Many video games are affected by this measure, as microtransactions are one of the most common business models for mobile games today. Freemium models, skin gambling, loot boxes, and pay-to-win are all directly impacted by this regulation.
Conversely, while only video games with in-app purchases appear to be affected, other titles using different funding methods, such as advertising or the exploitation of collected personal data, could be temporarily exempted from the ISBN license requirement.
Advertising contracts and the choices regarding transmitted data undoubtedly remain strictly regulated and controlled by the Chinese authorities, ultimately forcing publishers and online application platforms to comply with the Chinese government’s overall control or, failing that, to withdraw from the Chinese market.
Read our article on new ways to monetize video games.
The censorship of “Plague Inc”: Lack of a license or a bad image due to Covid-19
In this context of increasing control over video games by Chinese authorities, the video game Plague Inc. was specifically targeted for removal from the Apple Store at the request of the Chinese government.
Launched in 2012 and regularly updated, this game challenges players to evolve an infectious agent—bacteria, virus, or parasite—and spread it across the globe with the goal of eradicating the human race, or, as in the latest update, stopping it.
Its developer, the British company Ndemic Creations, currently boasts over 130 million players on PC, consoles, and smartphones. The game experienced a surge in popularity at the beginning of the year following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, particularly in China.
In February 2020, amidst the ongoing health crisis, the Cyberspace Administration of China declared the game illegal and mandated its removal from Apple’s app store. The lack of an appropriate license by its publisher, Ndemic Creations, was cited in particular.
In the absence of any clarification from the authorities, we can only speculate on the significance of the health emergency that first struck China with Covid-19 at the beginning of the year, likely provoking a strong and visceral reaction from the Chinese administration. This is despite the studio’s statement feigning ignorance “as to whether this withdrawal is linked to the coronavirus epidemic facing China.”
Plague Inc.’s censorship: Lack of license or bad image of Covid-19
The prodigious capabilities of modern video games are profoundly transforming their nature, making them a true medium in their own right. Indeed, the latest titles released in recent years generally feature:
Particularly rich and complex storylines blending themes as varied as history, economic or military strategies, politics, general knowledge, and critical thinking. This is the case, for example, with franchises like Assassin’s Creed or Age of Empires.
Audiovisual content, using the voices and images of actors, and music sometimes composed specifically for the game, representing several hours of visuals and sound;
Direct communication tools allowing interaction between different players, linking video games to a social network, communication forum, or even, in some cases, messaging system;
Mods, tools for building and customizing game worlds, created by players, who can modify, create content, or generate elements.
Promotional spaces conducive to targeted advertising and promotion of customizable services and goods.
All these elements combined within a single medium transform video games into a new kind of incredibly interactive media, yet one largely uncontrolled by state authorities, who are usually focused on traditional media.
This freedom within video games, constantly enriched by new titles and content, self-regulated solely by player communities and game publishers, is a boon for many.
In dictatorial or authoritarian states marked by severe censorship, it allows for the communication and publication of a wealth of information and content, much like the Dark Web.
Find the previous episode dedicated to Reporters Without Borders’ initiative on the game Minecraft.
In other cases, it allows individuals wishing to conceal their illegal activities to exchange information and communicate with greater discretion, particularly criminal, terrorist, or child pornography groups, and in this respect, it is associated with a new form of the Dark Web.
Read our article on the Dark Web.
