Wed, Oct 14, 2009 | 11:37 BST
China bans foreign investment in online gaming
China’s banned all foreign investment into its online games industry in an “effort to tighten control over its virtual worlds,” according to Reuters.
According to that piece, “China’s video game industry regulator the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and copyright watchdog issued a circular on Saturday prohibiting foreign investment in domestic online gaming operations through joint ventures, wholly owned enterprises and cooperatives.”
Nasty. But maybe not so unsurprising when you consider the market will likely grow between 30-50 percent this year to $3.5-4 billion.
More through the link.
3 comments
#1
ybfelix
14/10/09, 12:08 pm
This is strange.. IIRC GAPP doesn’t actually have administrative power over MMO gaming or trading.(It’s under Ministry of Culture/Commerce)
And as of now there is effectively no foreign investment in Chinese MMO operating already, it’s hard to compete with deeply entrenched local operators. For example WoW is operated by NetEase
#2
freedoms_stain
14/10/09, 1:54 pm
If anyone tried this in the West it’d be denounced as protectionism.
#3
edwardfane
15/10/09, 10:21 pm
I think that the Chinese government is going to invest in their own online games industry, and that is the main reason for the ban.
I’ve been searching for documents about investment and I found this site: Yellow documents.
Edward