China bans blood, imperial history, and Mahjong from video games

China has always been notorious for censorship in videogames. Some examples include how China censored Winnie the Pooh in Kingdom Hearts III, allegedly burned every copy of The Sassoon Files RPG, and tried to get sex and gambling references removed from Rainbow Six Siege before Ubisoft refused to comply.

A report from Gizmodo reveals that they have official details on the new restrictions and requirements for games trying to enter the Chinese market.

Games featuring corpses and blood are amongst those being banned. Gizmodo note that blood of any colour is now banned, meaning the Danganronpa series can no longer get away with the neon pink blood aesthetic they’ve had going on.

Gambling-based games such as Mahjong and Poker are also being banned. Gambling is illegal in China, so naturally, this isn’t too surprising.

Any videogame that features China’s imperial history is also being banned, which is unsurprising. These includes games where you can have ‘imperial concubines’, which automatically rules out about 60% of the strange and off-brand mobile game market.

However, the games might not be banned outright. If publishers are willing to change how their titles portray China and put a positive spin on the country’s image, they might be allowed past the ban. Maybe.

The new rules also require developers and publishers to divulge more information about their games, including what measures they’re taking to help curb gameplay addiction in China.

Source: Gizmodo.