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Cracking China, the world’s largest video games market, is an enticing challenge for overseas developers. But capturing a share of $24bn in annual revenues means surmounting censorship obstacles, such as objections to lead characters in standard shoot-’em-up roles being killers for hire.
打入世界上最大电子游戏市场中国，对海外开发商而言是一个诱人的挑战。但是，在240亿美元的年度营收中分一杯羹，意味着要克服审查障碍，比如标准枪战游戏中的主角不能是被雇佣的杀手。
“The main character should not be an assassin, we would suggest a law enforcement officer or military personnel being more appropriate,” said China’s top censorship body about one game recently, according to Henry Fong of Yodo1, a games “localising” company that converts overseas titles in China. The body also requested the censorship of locations in China and Taiwan, among other “very specific” requirements, Mr Fong said.
游道易(Yodo1)的方志航(Henry Fong)称，不久前中国最高审查机构在谈起一个游戏时表示，“主要角色不应该是一个刺客，我们建议主角是执法官员或军事人员更合适。”游道易是一家把海外游戏推广至中国国内的游戏“本地化”公司。他说，除了其他一些“非常具体的”要求，该机构还要求对中国大陆和台湾境内的地点进行审查。
As with films, all games released in China require approval from the culture ministry and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) — a requirement that has proved to be a barrier to market access and was extended to cover the fast-growing mobile sector last year.
跟电影一样，所有在中国发布的游戏必须得到国家新闻出版广电总局的审批——这一要求已被证明是进入中国市场的壁垒，并在去年延伸至飞速发展的手机游戏领域。
While a ban on the sale of consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation was lifted to much fanfare in 2013, since then, fewer than 100 console games have been approved. Andrew House, chief executive of Sony’s interactive entertainment unit, has said the “challenging censorship regime” in China has dented PlayStation sales. Restrictions on violent content keep out top-selling titles such as Bloodborne and the God of War and Grand Theft Auto franchises.
尽管在2013年，国内不得销售索尼(Sony) PlayStation等电子游戏机的禁令被取消，引起一片轰动，但自那以来，获准销售的游戏机游戏不到100种。索尼互动娱乐(Sony Interactive Entertainment)首席执行官安德鲁?豪斯(Andrew House)表示，中国“具有挑战性的审查体制”削弱了PlayStation的销量。对暴力内容的限制，把《血源》(Bloodborne)、《战神》(God of War)和《侠盗猎车手》(Grand Theft Auto)等畅销游戏拒之门外。
Other vague requirements have lengthened approval processes, which can extend for more than six months, deterring some companies from trying to launch their titles, according to Daniel Ahmad of Niko Partners, a consultancy. Content that “threatens China’s national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity” is forbidden, along with anything that “harms the nation’s reputation, security, or interests, public ethics or China’s culture and traditions,” SAPPRFT says.
咨询公司Niko Partners的丹尼尔?艾哈迈德(Daniel Ahmad)表示，其他含糊要求拖长了审批流程（可能超过6个月），使一些公司打消了尝试在中国发布游戏的念头。国家新闻出版广电总局表示，“危害国家统一、主权和领土完整”的内容，以及任何“危害国家安全，或者损害国家荣誉和利益，危害社会公德或者民族优秀文化传统”的内容，都是被禁止的。
A female employee at a Chinese online games company, who did not wish to give her name, said that characters could not be shown in short skirts. “There can’t be any sight of blood, so we make it black. There can’t be words like ‘kill’ or ‘die’, and use of English is banned,” she added.
中国一家在线游戏公司的一位不愿具名的女性员工表示，游戏人物不能以穿短裙的形象示人。她还说：“游戏中不能出现一点点血，所以我们把血做成黑色的。游戏里不能出现‘杀’或‘死’的字样，不得使用英语。”
In some cases, local laws extend to the virtual world: “The regulators require the birth system in our games to meet the regulations of birth-control policies,” Xu Youzhen, chairman of Guangzhou-based Duoyi Network Technology, said in 2015 of the country’s then “one child” restrictions. “Which means if players have a second child in the game, we must impose virtual social-compensation fees on them.”
在有些情况下，现实世界的法律延伸到了虚拟世界：“管理部门要求我们：游戏里的生子系统，要符合国家计划生育的有关规定，”广州多益网络(Duoyi Network Technology)董事长徐宥箴在2015年谈到中国那时的“独生子女”政策限制时说，“也就是说玩家在游戏里生二胎，我们得安排对他们征收虚拟的社会抚养费。”
Foreign developers have “open lines of communication with regulators so that they can get a sense of what may or may not be sensitive content,” said a Beijing-based games industry lawyer, who did not wish to be named. Chinese fans of the latest instalment of Japan’s Final Fantasy role-playing series noted in November that one fairy-like character came with added clothing for modesty’s sake.
北京一位不愿具名的游戏行业律师说，外国开发商有“跟管理部门沟通的公开渠道，以便了解什么可能是敏感内容，什么不是。”日本《最终幻想》(Final Fantasy)角色扮演系列游戏的最新一版的中国粉丝在去年11月指出，为了端庄起见，仙女模样的人物增加了衣服。
Yodo1’s Mr Fong says inquiries from foreign developers are still strong, but they are preparing for local censorship “at an earlier stage of their games development than before”.
游道易的方志航表示，目前来自外国开发商的询问仍很多，但他们开始准备“在游戏开发中比以往更早的阶段”接受国内审查。
Analysts and developers say that, as with films, game censorship stifles local companies wanting to export their titles. Recent tightening comes amid a boom in small independent Chinese developers attempting to make inroads overseas. Last month, Chinese indie title Candleman became available overseas on the Xbox. China-developed League of Angels has won overseas awards and has hundreds of thousands of fans on Facebook.
分析师和开发商表示，跟电影一样，游戏审查压制了想要出口游戏的国内公司。审查不久前收紧之际，正值试图进军海外市场的中国小型独立游戏开发商大量涌现。上月，中国公司独立制作的《蜡烛人》(Candleman)已登陆海外的Xbox。中国开发的《女神联盟》(League of Angels)已赢得多个国际奖项，在Facebook上有了数十万粉丝。
Chen Yu of Shanghai-based Jufu Internet Technology last year penned an angry open letter to China’s premier Li Keqiang and the country’s State Council, protesting against the censorship of mobile games. He complained small developers would be driven out of business.
去年，上海巨斧网络科技有限公司的陈宇写了一封愤怒的公开信给中国总理李克强和国务院，就手机游戏审查提出抗议。他抱怨称，中小游戏开发者的经营受到严重影响。
“There are higher barriers to entry, plus the extra time and money. Any one of those alone would be enough to knock out a small company,” he says, adding that the rules had already had a “big impact” on the sector. As for the letter, he says: “I’m still waiting for a response.”
他说：“（《网络出版服务管理规定》和《关于移动游戏出版服务管理的通知》）大幅提高了中小企业和个人开发者的经营成本，提高了准入门槛。这些限制显然极可能将从事游戏开发的中小企业和个人排除在市场之外。”他接着说，这些规定已对行业产生了“严重影响”。至于公开信，他说：“我仍在等待回复。”
