China's regulator for video game approvals, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), has approved for release the first batch of imported games in 2021. This batch of 33 titles includes 25 mobile, 4 PC and 4 console titles, and is notable because of the inclusion of key franchises which have the potential to have a significant impact on the market including Diablo, League of Legends, EVE, and Pokémon.

In the context of game approval in China, "Imported games" include games based on foreign IP, even if they are developed by a Chinese company, for example, Diablo Immortal developed by NetEase. The previous batch of 42 imported games was released in Dec 2020, and a total of 98 imported and 1316 domestic games were approved in 2020.

There are substantially fewer imported games approved than domestically developed ones, and the former tend to be more high-profile and profitable. Therefore, every batch of the imported games has a significant impact on the industry, especially when the total volume of the licenses has been increasingly limited by the regulators.   (Click here for more information about China's game approvals in 2020)

As two key players in the market, Tencent and NetEase received approvals for some notable titles:

Tencent:

Mobile title League of Legends: Wild Rift is expected to be highly appealing to Chinese players given the huge fan base the franchise has in China. Since the game's beta test launched outside of mainland China, Chinese players have been trying to access the game via VPN, which led to a ban on VPNs by Riot.

With its official arrival in mainland China, Tencent will be running two heavy-weight mobile MOBA games in China at the same time. Developed by Riot, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent, Wild Rift will pose potential competition for Honor of Kings as some of the player bases may overlap. The latter is Tencent's most popular title in China, achieving 100 million daily active users in 2020.  However, Wild Rift will also act as a foil to Tencent’s existing title, will freshen up the scene and offer something new for lapsed gamers and those jaded by the Honor of Kings experience.

Ylands, a sandbox title developed by Czech-based developer Bohemia Interactive, will also be introduced to China by Tencent. Bohemia Interactive announced Tencent’s strategic minority investment in the company the same day Ylands received approval, suggesting a link between the two. Tencent has already launched Roblox in Dec 2020. These two games will compete against Minecraft which is operated by NetEase in China and has over 300 million registered users.

Nintendo Switch, which is being operated by Tencent in China, will see two games in the near future: Nintendo's Super Mario Party and Ubisoft's Rayman: Legends. These two will join the console's current approved 18-game line-up.

NetEase: 

NetEase's line-up is also being expanded significantly, with 3 titles for both core and casual gamers being approved: Diablo Immortal, EVE: Echoes and Pokémon Quest.

Diablo Immortal has yet to be unveiled to the public but has already received lots of attention. This game is critical for both Activision Blizzard and NetEase: NetEase is seeking its next big hit and Activision Blizzard has announced that mobile games are a key growth strategy for the company.

EVE: Echoes is developed jointly by NetEase and CCP. Based on the original IP, EVE: Echoes provides simplified gameplay on more accessible devices, making it appealing to both veterans and casual gamers.

Pokémon Quest has been launched in most of the countries in 2018, and this time NetEase joined the development of this localised version with changes in the user interface, social system and PVP gameplay to cater for the tastes of Chinese gamers. The Pokémon IP is popular among young people in China, and the performance of the game is worth observing.

Others:

Aside from these stand out titles, games based on several other famous Japanese IPs have also been approved, including War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius which is developed by Square Enix and will be published by Xishanju in China, and two card games based on Ultraman and Saint Seiya IP.

In terms of the PlayStation 4, Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle and 39 Days to Mars have been approved, which are two casual games. Sony China has announced its plan to launch PS5 in Q2 2020, however, no PS5-specific games have been approved yet, although the console does play PS4 titles.