China’s recently established Online Ethics Review Committee has recommended bans on several popular games which include prime eSports titles such as League of Legends (LoL), Overwatch, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Fortnite and many more.
China has always had a massive presence and impact on the international gaming scene, it seems that the Chinese government has shortlisted 20 games to ban and is looking to permanently ban 9 of those. China is trying to find ways to keep away their citizens from every bad impact and so this time the government decides to regulate their video games.
The committee formed will judge the games according to social credit system that means they will be banning games if they feel the title doesn’t promote certain social standards. Sources report that about twenty games have been reviewed so far, and Fortnite and PUBG were two of the games that didn’t sit well with the committee. Both will reportedly be banned for their depiction of violence.
Many of the games have been given “corrective action” status, which means the games can likely be edited to remove the offending content, such as Overwatch, Blizzard, and World of Warcraft. Games like PUBG and Fortnite have been persecuted for their inclusion of too much blood and gore as well as vulgar content.
However, such bans have already cost Tencent over $100 billion. But whatever the cost, if it is violating social and ethical rules then it is something that China would never indulge especially when the participants are youth.
