Virtual Worlds Forum

Successfully launching a Western MMO in China is a tricky task at the best of times, but it just got a lot trickier. According to reports, the Chinese government agency in charge of regulating online games has announced that it will now postpone the "examination, approval and licensing of foreign company products if the companies are sued or targeted for arbitration actions by Chinese online game companies." In other words, if you're a Western MMO firm and you're sued by a local firm, bang go your chances of launching your product in China. Even, I assume, if you haven't done anything wrong. To say the least, such a rule may be open to abuse. The Virtually Blind blog makes the point that China isn't the only country to try and protect local games publishers by making it harder for foreign firms to enter the market. However, the new rules may be an incentive for Western firms to partner with local Chinese companies to localise their games, which would presumably help them get around the red tape. So you'd hope, anyway. (via Virtually Blind)