China’s 15-year ban on video game console sales has been lifted, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Last year, the opened the Shanghai free trade zone to video game consoles, allowing them to be sold in said trade zone only. When this happened the Chinese Ministry of Culture began drafting new rules that would regulate the sale of video game consoles in the free trade zone. Other restrictions on console manufacturers still remained, such as building manufacturing facilities. With the ban no completely lifted, console manufacturers now have complete freedom to manufacture and sell video game consoles anywhere in the country.
The ban was initially put in place by the Chinese Culture of Ministry 15 years ago because there were those that feared the influence video games could have on China’s youth. Since then, video games have become a large part of Chinese culture, but, due to the console ban, many have sought out computer or mobile gaming to get their digital fix. Online gaming has also become China’s biggest market for video games – so much so that Call of Duty Online was only released in China.
Earlier this year, the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita were delayed from being launched in January to late March. The Xbox One was released in September of last year.