China approves 117 video games in August, the most in 2024, amid Black Myth: Wukong mania

The National Press and Publication Administration has licensed a total of 850 domestic titles in the first eight months of this year

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People walk past a large screen advertising China’s latest blockbuster video game, Black Myth: Wukong, outside a commercial office building in Beijing on August 27, 2024. Photo: AP

Published: 2:41pm, 31 Aug 2024Updated: 5:50pm, 31 Aug 2024

China’s publication authority this month approved 117 video games – the biggest batch of titles licensed so far this year – as the industry remains all agog over the blockbuster success of Black Myth: Wukong, released just last week.

Tencent Holdings’ action game Yirenzhixia, NetEase-operated Jiewai Kuangchao and Huangyuan Shuguang from Alibaba Group Holding subsidiary Lingxi Games were among the latest titles to get licensed for domestic release, according to a statement released on Friday by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA). Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Other major video gaming firms whose new titles also made the cut in August include Perfect World and Yoozoo Games. Multiple titles submitted by state-owned telecommunications network operators China Mobile and China Telecom, both of which operate app stores and game studios, were also granted licences.

The NPPA has licensed a total of 850 domestic titles in the first eight months of this year, compared with 609 in the same period in 2023.

A screenshot from Tencent Holdings’ action game Yirenzhixia. Photo: qq.com

The large number of titles approved in August reflects the significant recovery in China’s video gaming market since April 2022, when Beijing resumed licensing titles for the domestic market after an eight-month regulatory freeze.