A change in the Chinese version of H1Z1: King of the Kill suggests that the shooter may soon find a publisher in China.
According to 2p, police cars in the Chinese Steam version of H1Z1 have been replaced by taxis. This has occurred in a patch.
This leads to speculation that H1Z1 might have convinced an “official Chinese publisher” to take it under contract. Thus, by removing the police cars, H1Z1 could become presentable to acquire a license from the Chinese government.
The relationship of Western games to China is complicated. Access to the Chinese market is highly attractive for Western developers, but the hurdles to actually appear and earn money there are high. A “reasonable” strategy seems to be establishing collaborations with local Chinese companies and adapting their games to the sometimes arbitrary requirements of the Chinese government from a Western perspective.
Blizzard does this with World of Warcraft and Diablo 3. They work with “Netease” and have made changes to their games. For instance, bones cannot be shown openly in China.
To obtain the license, the developers thus adapt their games for China in advance: a kind of self-censorship that takes into account the peculiarities of China.
H1Z1 was originally a survival game. From that survival game, the 'Battle Royale' shooter H1Z1: King of the Hill later emerged. The survival game became known a...
