Abstract
The Chinese government has a long record of intervention and manipulation of domestic mass media, which are significant components in sustaining the regime’s stability and promoting its ideologies and guidelines. Traditional media affected by this, such as newspapers, radio, television, and movies, have to bow to the state’s power and play the roles designated for them by the authorities for sustaining social stability. As a fresh medium for China’s new generation, video games encounter similar manipulation and influence in various aspects from local authorities.In China, there is a common understanding among many local citizens. When they mention video games, they usually think of online games or, more recently, mobile games. Hence, by their understanding, online and mobile games represent all video games in China. However, although China-made personal computer-based online games and mobile games have played a critical role in the Chinese video game industry in recent times, that does not mean that those games and their customers are solely representative of China’s video game market and community. Other games played a crucial role in various aspects of the historical development of video games in China and even built the foundation of China’s video game market itself, with online and smartphone games being their successors. Those games are foreign-made single-player games.
Foreign-made single-player games undeniably played a role in the fundamental development of the Chinese video game market and community, building China’s market from the ground up. However, under the manipulation and influence of local authorities, the prosperity of these foreign-made single-player games has disappeared along with their popularity. China-made online and mobile games now dominate the domestic video game market. As a result, foreign single-player games have been marginalized, shrinking into a niche product within China’s broader video game market. Although establishing the Free-Trade Zone in Shanghai benefited this niche market when it opened the door to foreign firms, allowing foreign video game consoles to be sold legally on the Chinese market, it could not turn around the poor prognosis for foreign-made single-player games in China.
Although these games are marginalized and only occupy a niche market in China, their encounters in the Chinese market should not be neglected and become untold. Hence, for a thorough understanding of how these games were and are affected in China and how people respond to these, this thesis will systematically explain the challenges and difficulties of these games surviving in the Chinese market through four different aspects:
•The historical development of foreign-made games in China
•The licensing and censorship system of video games in China
•The gray areas for foreign-made games in China
•The working environment of local participants who focus on these games in China
Explaining the challenges and difficulties of these games through these aspects will further complete the academic research that has taken place on China’s video game market, industry, and culture. Moreover, this research topic could benefit foreign developers by enriching their knowledge of China’s video game market and industry. This intelligence would allow them to make a precise and educated decision on approaching the Chinese market when they want to introduce their games there.
| Date of Award | 11 Apr 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Yong Ming KOW (Supervisor) & Olli Tapio LEINO (Supervisor) |
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- Standard