China to import 44 foreign video games, grants multiple licences to Tencent
China's video game regulator granted publishing licences to 44 foreign games for domestic release, including seven from South Korea, further lifting rigid curbs that have hammered the industry for 18 months.
South Korean gaming stocks, including Netmarble Corp, NCSOFT, Krafton, Kakao Games and Devsisters jumped between 2% and more than 17% in morning trade on Thursday, a day after Chinese authorities granted publishing licenses.
The approval of seven South Korean games is significant because China has restricted the import of South Korean content since a 2017 dispute over South Korea's installation of a U.S. missile defence shield. Before this new list, only two South Korean games had been approved.
Among the imported online games approved by the National Press and Publication Administration are five to be published by Tencent Holdings such as "Pokémon Unite" by Nintendo and "Valorant" by Riot Games, according to a list the regulator released.
The regulator initially released a list of 45 approved imported games. It removed Yoozoo's "Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming" later on Wednesday, without giving a reason. Yoozoo appears, however, to already have a license, according to a document the authority published in September.
Yoozoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The regulator also approved 84 domestic games for the month of December, according to a separate list released on Wednesday.
The approval of imported games effectively marks the end of China's crackdown on the video game industry which began in August last year when regulators suspended the game approval process.
Regulators resumed issuing game licenses to homegrown games in April, and the approval of foreign games was seen as the
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