As Chinese Government has established a policy to import new games from South Korea, South Korean gaming companies are busy preparing solutions for this policy. Experts from China asked to refrain from having excessive sense of fear by saying that it is difficult to not notice any damages that Chinese companies will take by rejecting approvals from South Korean gaming companies. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is also investigating on whether or not South Korean companies have caused damages and whether or not that is a policy that Chines Government is participating in.
According to gaming industries on the 7th, many gaming companies that are looking to enter Chinese markets have received announcements regarding postponement or rejection of their businesses starting from March. (Related article: 2nd page of The Electronic Times that was issued on the 7th)
A startup company that develops indie games received a notice from its Chinese partner on the 6th that it cannot continue its contract due to new Chinese policy regarding rejection of approvals. A large South Korean gaming company also received a call from its Chinese distributor that it does not know when it will receive an approval that it applied for.
South Korean gaming companies that have headquarters in China are preparing solutions to this policy. “Headquarters in China are looking for ways to make release of South Korean games in China possible.” said an executive of a company that imports South Korean games to China.
Experts believe that it will be hard for Chinese Government to stick to this policy.
“It will be difficult for Chinese Government to turn away civil complaints from small and medium companies that import South Korean games and secure IPs (Intellectual Property).” said an executive for a Chinese gaming company.
“China especially is trying to globalize its own products from a field of contents.” said a representative for this industry. “THAAD can be an excuse for shackling foreign games.”
“However it seems that this policy will be very flexible as sense of crisis in China regarding South Korean games is not as big as sense of crisis in South Korea.” said a same representative. “This will be an opportunity for companies that have had good relationship with China to strengthen their relationship with China even more.”
Some are warning that South Korean companies need to be careful of unfair conditions that Chinese companies present in the name of prohibition of approvals. “Even huge companies such as 360 and Tencent have not yet received any official notification regarding prohibition of approvals.” said CEO Kim Doo-il of ChinaLab. “South Korean companies need to be careful of possibilities of Chinese companies securing copyrights and trademarks and having South Korean companies be only in charge of development of games with this policy as an excuse.”
MCST is paying careful attention to this current state. By knowing that the threshold for approval of South Korean games has risen starting from this year when approval of mobile games has become an obligation, MCST is paying careful attention to whether or not THAAD controversy will actually lead to damages for South Korean companies.
“South Korean games that already received approvals from Chinese Government in January and February only take up 10 to 20% of entire games.” said Section Head Choi Seong-hee of MCST. “We are investigating on additional damages that might have occurred due to THAAD while threshold for approvals has risen this year.”
“Although it is true that there is a sense of prohibition of approving new South Korean games after collecting sources from China, we need to understand exactly who the main agent is since incidences and situations are all different from each other.” said Section Chief Choi.
“One needs to see that Chinese companies and Chinese Government work as one body from an aspect of THAAD situation.” said a representative for a Chinese gaming company. “Insecurities will be resolved when a South Korean game receives an approval from Chinese Government by April the latest.”
Staff Reporter Kim, Siso | siso@etnews.com