Game Industry Suffering from 'Pan-Ho Concerns' Amid New Coronavirus Impact

Among 1,570 Games Granted Chinese Licenses Last Year, Korean Games '0'
Esports Held Without Spectators... Concerns Over Hosting New Game Media Events

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] "Do we have to wait until next year again for the resumption of China's game license (distribution permit) issuance?"

The game industry is suffering due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia). Expectations were rising that the issuance of game licenses would resume following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea, but as the novel coronavirus situation spreads, it has become difficult to be optimistic about the resumption of license issuance. Additionally, the industry is experiencing operational disruptions, including considering the cancellation of game events where many people gather.

According to the 156th Weekly Global report by the Korea Creative Content Agency on the 1st, the Chinese government issued licenses for 1,570 games last year. Among these, 1,385 were Chinese games, accounting for more than 88%. The remaining 185 were overseas games, but Korean games numbered '0'.

The Chinese government has not issued game licenses to Korean games since March 2017, using the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) conflict as an excuse. As a result, the domestic game industry has been unable to introduce new games to China, suffering considerable damage to sales. The industry had high hopes for President Xi Jinping's visit as an opportunity to resume license issuance. The Korea Game Society also met with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and requested strongly that the Chinese government resume issuing licenses during President Xi Jinping's visit.

However, as the novel coronavirus situation spreads, containing the outbreak has become the Chinese government's top priority, raising concerns that discussions on resuming license issuance may be postponed. An industry insider lamented, "If President Xi Jinping's visit in the first half of the year is delayed or canceled due to the novel coronavirus situation, there will be no opportunity to discuss the license issuance issue with China within this year."

Furthermore, the industry is considering canceling or postponing game events where many people gather due to this situation. Riot Games decided to hold the '2020 Woori Bank League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Spring' league, which opens on the 5th, as an indefinite spectator-free event. The LCK opening media day, which was scheduled to be held before the opening, was also canceled. The industry is also deliberating whether to hold media events for games releasing in the first half of the year. An industry official said, "Many companies are likely contemplating whether to hold new game announcement events where many people gather amid the spreading novel coronavirus situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.