Neither Tencent nor PUBG developer Bluehole has commented on this possible ban so far. However, the story remains intriguing.
In the past, political tensions between Korea and China have caused waves in gaming. China has already announced that it would make it harder for games from South Korea to access the market. One can certainly trust the Chinese government to protect the Chinese market from “foreign companies” using protectionist measures. By making it harder for foreign competition to enter the market, the Chinese government strengthens domestic firms.
In Korea, it is different. There politicians swing the golden pan when it comes to PUBG.
Too much blood and violence in PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds)? China is considering a ban, although an IT giant may be interested in the game.
The battle royale shooter “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” has achieved several milestones since its release in March. PUBG has pushed top games on Steam like CS:GO and DOTA 2 aside. More than 1.3 million concurrent users on Steam show that the game has struck a chord with the gaming community.
However, for China, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is allegedly too bloody and violent. They are considering banning PUBG in China.
“Reminds of gladiatorial battles”
The Chinese government apparently disagrees with PUBG. The game has grown larger in recent months and is gaining momentum. Should a brake be applied in China now?
The video game department of the Chinese Audio-Video Copyright Association has published a statement on PUBG (Link to the statement in Chinese). In it, they explain that the game contains too much blood and violence. Therefore, it is unlikely that PUBG would receive a license in China to be officially released.
In the statement, the authors even go so far as to compare PUBG to the ancient arena fights of the Romans. This survival principle would violate the morals of China and have a negative influence on children and adolescents.
Additionally, they warn local companies. They should not develop or publish such games. No advertising for this game genre should run on eSports and livestream platforms.
Rumors: Tencent wanted to buy parts of PUBG
It seems that this ban is not being considered without context. For weeks, rumors have circulated that the Chinese IT and gaming giant “Tencent” wanted a deal for the Chinese PUBG servers.
Tencent already owns popular games for PC (League of Legends) and mobile (Clash of Clans). Additionally, Tencent launched a gaming platform to create competition for Steam in China. Currently, PUBG has no publisher in China.
Ironically, the committee that published the aforementioned statement includes a vice president of Tencent and other executives from well-known gaming companies like “Perfect World” and “ChangYou”.
Touchy political situation
So should PUBG be banned so that a homegrown battle royale shooter doesn’t have competition? This shouldn’t be a problem for the experienced gaming giants from China. A bit less blood and violence and they could bypass the proposed ban. Besides, there is no top dog without PUBG.
Neither Tencent nor PUBG developer Bluehole has commented on this possible ban so far. However, the story remains intriguing.
In the past, political tensions between Korea and China have caused waves in gaming. China has already announced that it would make it harder for games from South Korea to access the market. One can certainly trust the Chinese government to protect the Chinese market from “foreign companies” using protectionist measures. By making it harder for foreign competition to enter the market, the Chinese government strengthens domestic firms.
In Korea, it is different. There politicians swing the golden pan when it comes to PUBG.
