14 years after China had banned all foreign consoles, the State Council finally removed the ban that had been in effect since 2000. This change was announced last year, and it has finally come to fruition. The ban lift will permit the sale of consoles built by foreign investors in the Shanghai free trade zone.
The reasoning behind the initial ban was the fact that consoles and video games in general promote violent behavior, which the Chinese government tried to avoid. Still, the ban was not completely effective, as smuggled consoles did make it to Chinese users on occasion, and even without them, China has an annual gaming market worth around $14 billion, thanks to mobile gaming, the PC and the internet.
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony officials have yet to comment on the lift of the ban, but it’s safe to assume they are aiming to profit from the lift and take advantage of the high potential of this new market. Back when the Playstation 4 launched last year, Group CEO of Sony Andrew House declared that the new Sony console would outsell the Playstation 3 because of the prospects of new opening markets, among which China. His statement was probably based on the already foreseeable lift of the Chinese console ban. “We’re seeing signs that, finally, China may open up, with the Free Trade Zone being established in Shanghai and the opportunity now to sell consoles in that market”, Mr. House stated back in 2013.
It will be interesting to see how these companies will approach this newly opened market, and how this window of opportunity will affect sales, business plans, and the general direction of the gaming community world-wide.