In 2024, China issued 1,400 gaming licenses. This is the best result since 2019
On Tuesday, December 24, China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) issued the last batch of game publishing licenses for the year. As a result, the total number of games approved by the regulator for 2024 reached 1,416.
Ananta
Of these games, 1,306 were developed by teams from China. The remaining 110 games were created by foreign studios.
As noted by the South China Morning Post, the last time NPPA issued more licenses was five years ago. In 2019, the regulator allowed the release of 1,570 games in China.
For comparison, here is the number of games approved for release in China in previous years:
- 2023: 977 domestic games and 98 foreign games;
- 2022: 468 domestic games and 44 foreign games;
- 2021: 679 domestic games and 76 foreign games;
- 2020: 1,314 domestic games and 97 foreign games;
- 2019: 1,385 domestic games and 185 foreign games;
- 2018: 2,040 domestic games and 55 foreign games.
Recall that in July 2021, China paused the issuance of game licenses. The pause for domestic projects was lifted in April 2022, while for games from foreign developers, it lasted eight months longer, until December 2022. This explains the decline in the number of approved games in 2021-2022. In 2023, the situation began to return to normal.
Among the games receiving a license in December 2024 are Ananta by NetEase, Monster Hunter Outlanders by Capcom, Passpartout 2 by Flamebait Games, Asphalt 8: Airborne by Gameloft, and Eternal Return by Nimble Neuron. There were 135 in total — more licenses were issued only in February, when 142 titles were approved for release.