The recent NPPA game approval data reveals several emerging trends. First, game approval distribution among China game companies became more balanced between small game companies and large game companies, giving smaller game publishers in China a similar chance of obtaining game approvals as larger game publishers. Second, it is becoming easier to transfer game approvals from one domestic game operator to another, which reduces the “capture risk” that foreign game developers traditionally face when licensing their games to a China game operator. Third, NPPA approved several domestic mobile games developed with intellectual property licensed from foreign personal computer (“PC”) or console game developers, which opens a new path for foreign game developers to enter the China market, as domestic game approvals are easier and faster to obtain than foreign game approvals.
This article provides an overview of China’s game approval regime, as well as data on the number of approvals granted in the past six years, including before and after the two “pauses on approvals” in 2018 and 2021-2022. It also highlights trends that emerge from the data.