Apple has deleted over 8,000 games from their iOS App Store in China after they failed to meet approval by government regulators in China.
The news comes from Niko Partners, a company that tracks and monitors the video game market in China. They released the news that over 8,000 titles were taken down by Apple after failing to meet new requirements by the National Press and Publication Administration.
Earlier this year, the NPPA announced that all paid games or games with in-app purchases on the China App Store would be required to have a valid ISBN by June 30, 2020. Starting July 1st, Apple began removing those games that failed to meet this new requirement.
To obtain an ISBN, a game developer would first need to apply for a review of their game. Once signed off by the NPPA, they would then need an ISBN, or license number, to be sold within the Chinese market.
Daniel Ahmad, the Senior Analyst at Niko Partners pointed out on Twitter that some developers, such as EA with their title Star Wars Galaxy Of Heroes, opted to leave the market. It’s possible many were unable to obtain proper approval from the NPPA and others may have been unable to navigate or afford the process.
Interestingly, the new ban does not apply to games whose sole source of revenue is in-game advertising. Games that obtain their revenue in this manner were not affected and many games likely converted to this model to remain in the market without needing to seek government approval.
Such bans and restrictions certainly aren’t new to the gaming market in China. In April, China declared a ban on the sale of Animal Crossing: New Horizons when it became apparent that players were using the game to protest the Chinese government.
While this latest ban wasn’t necessarily political in nature, it does represent an increasing desire by the Chinese government to have greater regulation and control over the gaming industry in their country. Thanks to the new ISBN requirements, many mobile games are now trackable by the NPPA along with their sales.