Nintendo’s Pokémon and Riot Games have titles approved for sale in China

The National Press and Publication Administration approved 15 foreign video games on Wednesday, bringing the total for the year to 61

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Nintendo Switch’s Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! has received approval for sale in China. Photo: Nintendo

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 10:00pm, 5 Jun 2024

China’s video gaming regulator has approved a new batch of 15 foreign video games, with titles from League of Legends-maker Riot Games, Nintendo and Sega among those to be released in the domestic market.

The mobile version of Valorant, a popular first-person shooter from Riot, which is based in the US but owned by Tencent Holdings, is among the titles approved on Wednesday by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), the agency in charge of licensing video games in China.

Under Chinese regulations, an overseas video game cannot be monetised in the country without a government permit. Getting approval often involves localisation with censorship of sensitive content and it must be operated through a Chinese partner – often Tencent and NetEase, the country’s two largest video gaming companies.

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Valorant’s arrival on smartphones in China has been highly anticipated since the PC version found great commercial success on the mainland, where it launched last July. That was three years after its global release.

Tencent touted the title as its “most important game published in 2023”. The tech giant credited Valorant as a major contributor to its first-quarter domestic game sales this year.

The regulator also approved three titles for the Nintendo Switch, including the role-playing game Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and platform adventure game Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. Tencent is the official distributor of the Switch in mainland China.

The Pokémon game was released globally together with the related title Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! in November 2018. Eevee was approved for sale in China in April.