I believe that many young friends are not unfamiliar with the word "eating chicken", and they or their friends have played or are playing chicken eating games. In a game of chicken eating, dozens or more players enter the same game map, manipulating the game characters to use weapons and various props to survive in the fierce competition to win to the end. The first game to introduce this mode was a game called H1Z1, and PUBG: Battle Royale took this type of game to new heights, so chicken eating games are also known as "battle royale" games.
"Battle Royale" swept the world in 2017, and many domestic game agents are also eager to try, taking the form of independent research and development or cooperative agents to launch their own chicken eating games, hoping to get a piece of the pie from this hot market. However, the negative attitude of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to such games means that "battle royale" games will eventually find it difficult to enter the Chinese market.
Why is it difficult for "battle royale" to enter the country
In mid-2017, just as PUBG: Battle Royale was on fire in the global market, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television criticized the game by name, saying that the game was violent and bloody, and it would be difficult to obtain a publishing license. At the same time, the Game Publishing Working Committee of the China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association made recommendations to domestic game manufacturers, pointing out that such games should not be developed or introduced, and did not encourage game manufacturers to attract users to play such games on the grounds of testing games.
On the side of domestic game manufacturers, the process of launching a "battle royale" game is in full swing. Xiaomi's Xiaomi Shootout: Battle Royale was released at the end of October 2017, and Tencent Games is also negotiating the introduction of PUBG. At this juncture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's denial of "battle royale" games is tantamount to pouring cold water on the enthusiasm of domestic game manufacturers to develop such games. Many game loyalists may question why "battle royale" games are so difficult to enter the mainland. This has to start with the mainland game regulatory system.
Online games are not only simple information consumption products, but also closely related to culture, ideology, etc., and have an important impact on the domestic cultural atmosphere and the growth of young people. It is precisely because the online game market has a huge impact on domestic cultural security that it is necessary to supervise the content of online games. Because online game developers take the pursuit of profit as the fundamental goal, in the process of developing games, they may use pornographic and violent content to attract users, resulting in negative impact on gamers and even leading to distortion of the three views. At the same time, relying on enterprise self-regulatory supervision has little effect, and it is necessary to supervise online games through administrative departments.
In June 2010, the Ministry of Culture issued the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games. From its promulgation in 2010 to its repeal in 2019, the Measures have had a profound impact on domestic game regulation in the past 10 years. According to the Measures, online games must not contain content that violates the basic principles of the Constitution, must not promote cults or superstitions, and must not promote obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, or content that instigates crime. At the same time, the Measures establish a review system for online games, with the Cultural Administration Department under the State Council responsible for hiring experts to review the content of online games. Online games containing violent content will be difficult to pass content censorship and difficult to enter the domestic market.
Back to pubicular: Battle Royale, the violent content of the game can already be detected from the name of the game. In the game, in addition to guns and weapons and bloody graphics, the goal of the game of cannibalism means that the game is destined to be full of bloody content. Obviously, PUBG: Battle Royale is a game with violent content as defined by the Measures, and it is difficult to pass domestic game censorship. The voices of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Music and Digital Association once again reminded domestic game manufacturers that "battle royale" games are almost impossible to enter the Chinese market.
How will game makers respond?
Although "PUBG: Battle Royale" has encountered obstacles in entering the Chinese market, domestic game manufacturers have not given up this market, and game manufacturers such as NetEase, Xiaomi, and Tencent are still laying out chicken games. Now that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has spoken out, what methods have these game manufacturers taken to deal with it?
Since it is difficult to get the version number of the chicken eating game, domestic manufacturers may adopt a roundabout strategy, that is, embed the "battle royale" game mode in the game that has registered the game version number. However, there are still policy risks associated with this approach. According to the Notice on the Administration of Mobile Game Publishing Services, if there is a significant change in the game work, it will be regarded as a new work and will need to be re-approved. There is no certainty as to whether the practice of placing a "battle royale" gameplay in an existing game will require the game to be re-registered, but this policy risk is worth the attention of relevant game manufacturers.
In addition, due to the difficulty of obtaining version numbers, some game manufacturers will release chicken eating games in the name of testing. For example, Tencent's "PUBG: Stimulating the Battlefield" has been in beta for a long time because of the version number problem, and it was not until 2019 that it finally obtained the game version number of "Peace Elite". In order for the chicken eating game to finally obtain the game version number, the game manufacturer will remove the bloody and violent elements of the game and retain only the basic gameplay, so as to successfully pass the review. Although the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has a negative attitude towards this type of game, due to the difficulty of forcibly intervening in the game market, the "battle royale" game has finally been able to meet with domestic players by diluting the bloody and violent content.
Game regulation behind the obstruction of "Battle Royale"
The obstruction of the entry of "battle royale" games into the mainland reflects the relatively strict game supervision system in the mainland. At present, the domestic game market itself is huge, and the one-size-fits-all prohibition of "battle royale" games is difficult to operate in practice, and it is also not in line with the needs of the development of the game industry. Moreover, because the mainland game supervision system has not introduced a rating system, it is difficult to achieve a rating review of games. Therefore, the regulatory authorities have adopted a general negative attitude towards "battle royale" games.
At the same time, the laws and regulations on domestic game supervision are not yet perfect, it is difficult to form a complete system of normative documents regulating the online game market, and the regulatory body also shows a certain degree of confusion. Although there was previously an Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games, the Measures were repealed with the adjustment of functions in 2019. At present, the supervision of the online game field is no longer the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, but the Central Propaganda Department is mainly responsible. This transfer will help to gradually clarify the regulatory body and regulatory responsibilities, and optimize the management of the online game market.
In August 2021, a report that "spiritual opium has grown into hundreds of billions of industries" pointed directly at the harm of online games and pushed the problem of online games to the forefront. How to dialectically view the positive and negative impact of the online game market and the scientific management of the online game industry is worth the in-depth consideration of game players, game manufacturers and regulatory authorities.
【Source】 Zhang Yutao
【Tweet Typography】Gu Haoxiang
【Reference】
[1] "PUBG: Battle Royale" was criticized for being bloody, and it was difficult for "eating chicken" to come to China.
[2] Zhang Jinyang, "Research on the Regulatory Mechanism of Online Games in Mainland China", Nanjing University of the Arts, 2015.
【Image source】
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https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/1214270/
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