China imports 27 foreign video games as it reopens market to global titles

Hong Kong, March 21 (ANI): China has approved 27 foreign video games, including titles to be released by Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili, as it gradually reopens the world’s largest mobile entertainment market to international titles, CNN Business reported.

It was the second batch of foreign games to be allowed to enter the Chinese market since December.
The latest titles include ‘Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross,’ a popular global role-playing game from South Korea’s Netmarble, and ‘Merge Mansion,’ a mobile merge game from Finland’s Metacore, according to a list published by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) on Monday.

Tencent (TME) will distribute the two games in mainland China. NetEase (NTES) will release ‘Audition: Everybody Party,’ a Chinese version of the hit dancing game ‘Audition Online,’ which was developed by South Korea’s T3 Entertainment.

Bilibili (BILI) will publish the localised version of ‘Uma Musume: Pretty Derby,’ a hugely popular franchise from Japan’s Cygames, according to CNN Business.

Other Chinese publishers on the list include XD, Yostar and iDreamSky Technology.

Among the 27 games, seven were made in Japan, followed by five from South Korea. Online game stocks pulled higher in Asia on Tuesday, CNN Business said.

In South Korea, shares in Netmarble Corp were up 7 per cent. Devsisters Corp, whose hit game ‘Cookie Run’ was also on the NPPA’s list, soared 15 per cent. Nexon Games, whose popular ‘Blue Archives’ and ‘MapleStory’ were given the greenlight, surged 16 per cent.

According to CNN Business, In Hong Kong, Bilibili was up as much as 9.1 per cent. It last jumped 5.4 per cent. XD advanced 2.8 per cent. iDreamSky Technology was up 3.2 per cent.

The NPPA’s move came two months after the iconic ‘World of Warcraft’ franchise went offline in mainland China, after US publisher Blizzard and its Chinese distributor NetEase broke off talks to extend their 14-year partnership. That left many Chinese players devastated, CNN Business said.