Signal for the End of Hanhanryeong? China Allows Korean Games to Launch Domestically After 1.5 Years

China Issues Publishing Licenses for 45 Foreign Games
Smilegate's 'Lost Ark' and 3 Netmarble Games Included

Lost Ark Representative Image

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The Chinese government has issued game licenses (approval for game service within China) for Korean games for the first time in 1 year and 6 months.

According to the industry on the 29th, the National Press and Publication Administration of China announced on its website the day before that it had approved the import of a total of 44 foreign games, including 7 Korean games, as of the 10th of this month.

The Korean games that received licenses this time include Smilegate's "Lost Ark" and "Epic Seven," Nexon's "MapleStory M," Netmarble's "The Second World: Cross World" and "A3: Still Alive," Netmarble subsidiary Kabam's "Shop Titans," and Npixel's "Gran Saga."

However, the distribution and operation of these games will be handled by companies based in China.

Korea exported 48 games to China from 2014 to 2016, but since March 2017, when the Hallyu ban (restriction on Korean wave) was fully enforced, it has hardly received any game licenses.

In December 2020, Com2uS's "Summoners War: Sky Arena" became the first Korean game company to receive a license after the Hallyu ban, and in June last year, Pearl Abyss's "Black Desert Mobile" also received a license.

In addition, China suspended the issuance of game licenses in July last year and strengthened regulations on games by strictly limiting the usage time of users under 18 years old.

Since resuming the issuance of licenses in April, more than 500 games have been approved by the authorities, but this is still a low number compared to about 1,000 licenses issued annually before. Up to November this year, licenses were issued six times, but foreign games were still locked out.

Because of this, the licenses issued for the mobile version of the PC online survival battle arena "Eternal Return," developed by Nimble Neuron, a subsidiary of Neptune under Kakao Games, and the game using Netmarble's StoneAge IP were not "foreign-invested licenses" but domestic licenses granted to games within China. The development and service are handled by Chinese game companies, and only royalties are collected according to contracts.

However, as the Chinese government broke precedent and issued foreign-invested licenses for several popular Korean games this time, attention is focused on whether the Hallyu ban, which has lasted for more than five years, will be lifted.

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