After 15 years in exile, video games all the video games are to be welcomed back into China with open arms.
The country is set to lift the last lingering remnants of a ban on video game console sales that's been in place since 2000. While PC and mobile gaming have long been major attractions in China, the big three console makers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony were all, as foreign interests, stuck on the outside.
Chinese bans on console sales eased in January 2014 when the country's Ministry of Culture approved foreign console sales, provided all imported hardware was inspected and backed by the governing body, and it was only sold inside the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. While that represented a major turnaround for the long-closed Chinese market, it also put a definitive ceiling on sales potential for console makers outside the country.
This latest development allows for console sales outside the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in other words, throughout China which makes it easier for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony to move their products in a market populated by more than 1.3 billion people. More than that, both foreign and domestic console makers will also be able to manufacture their products inside Chinese borders.
The lifting of the ban is a result of the successful test run that started last year, according to the Ministry of Culture. The Wall Street Journal notes that the Chinese gaming market is currently worth $22.2 billion, which is up 23% over the prior year, based on information provided by gaming research firm Newzoo BV.
"This is great news for us," a Sony spokesperson told the WSJ. PlayStation products came to China following the 2014 easing of the ban, and the Sony representative reaffirmed the company's commitment to bringing its products to the Chinese market.
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