China and the videogames

China is quite an ambiguous country. It is attracting huge amount of foreign investment, becomes more open, morally speaking, but on the other hand, and cracks down on cybercafes. Now, as it did in June, it bans a videogame that offends its territorial sovereignty.

This time it is "Football Manager 2005." This a British game that hit markets on Nov. 5 2004 but won't be sold in China and has no Chinese-language version. "The government is searching for the game online and in computer software markets, cybercafes and newsstands that sell pirated software."

Why? Because the game refers to Taiwan and other regions as separate entities while they are claimed by China. Well, it is also a pretty strange reaction by the game developer Sports Interactive Ltd., who says that said the Chinese ministry apparently was referring to content in the English version that was never intended for distribution in China. In the time of peer-to-peer sharing, this is quite a response, isn't it?

(By Asia Business Consulting)