China Bans British Game for Political Reasons

The country’s Ministry of Culture has stated that the game poses “harm to the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Chinese news sources.

The game, “Football Manager 2005” is produced by Sports Interactive Ltd., a British developer. The company has noted in news reports that the Chinese ministry had reviewed an English version of the game that was not intended for distribution in China.

Sports Interactive added that it was working to create a Chinese version that would comply with the ministry’s requirements.

History Repeating

Much as in other countries, games have become popular in China. This has sparked concern in the Chinese government about questionable content, especially from foreign-produced games.

In June, the country established a committee that reviewed online games and banned subscriptions if it found material objectionable to China.

Content that is censored usually involves political comment. For example, a Swedish game, Hearts of Iron, was blocked because it portrayed Chinese-held areas like Tibet and Manchuria as independent nations.

Despite such bans, online gaming is booming in the country, with an estimated 13.8 million online gamers. Annual revenue in the sector is expected to reach US$1.5 billion by 2008, according to some estimates.

Censor Ship

As China gains more economic clout and gets a higher profile through moves like the recent Lenovo and IBM deal, bans on games and software highlight the country’s extreme sensitivity about political commentary and global culture.

“China has been very focused on control, in every area of culture, and that’s always included games,” Jason Della Rocca, program director for the International Game Developers Association told NewsFactor.

Not only would game companies need to address the censorship issue, but China’s lack of copyright laws make for widespread, unauthorized duplication.

“The market for China is huge, but most game developers aren’t that interested in trying to get into it,” Della Rocca added. “There are just too many roadblocks.”