Forecast: in 2023, China will issue twice as many licenses for publishing games as last year
In April 2022, the Chinese regulator resumed issuing permits for the publication of games in the country after a pause that lasted eight months. Nevertheless, licenses were not issued very willingly all year. In 2023, the situation will improve, Niko Partners predicts.
Analysts expect the regulator to approve over 1,100 games in 2023. For comparison: in 2022, he approved 512 games. However, this is still less than it was before the pause with the issuance of licenses. For example, in 2020, the regulator allowed 1411 titles to be released in China.
Analysts also noted that it has become a little easier for foreign developers to get a license. In December 2022, 11 Korean games were immediately allowed to be released, despite the fact that in the period from March 2017 to December 2020, not a single title from South Korea could get approval due to geopolitical reasons. Also at the beginning of 2023, many popular foreign games like Valorant, Lost Ark and The Division 2 were able to get licenses.
