It was only recently that China had lifted the ban on the sales of consoles in the country. This immediately saw the likes of Microsoft and Sony rushing to get their consoles into the country on an official basis, but according to early reports, it seems that initial sales of both consoles have been disappointing.
Speaking to Reuters, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House said that censorship was to blame. According to House, “We are still challenged somewhat with a censorship regime that we have to work with. This can be time-consuming.” However despite that, he still believes that China is still has huge potential as a market for entertainment.
House’s sentiments on China’s strict censorship policies is not new. Previously developers such as Blizzard had to find ways around it in order to sell their games. For example in World of Warcraft, blood had to be removed and replaced with green fluid. Skull imagery was also a big no-no, resulting in skeletal mobs ending up looking more like zombies.
This is not just limited to the gaming industry. A couple of weeks ago there was a report that Google was trying to find their way back into the Chinese market by offering up a censored Google Play Store, in hopes that it would be given the greenlight by the Chinese government.