Tencent, a Chinese internet and entertainment media giant, said they will not allow mainland Chinese gamers to access overseas platforms to play foreign games, which are not approved by the government. This is a sign of tightening control of the Internet and social media activities by government agencies of the People’s Republic of China.
Tencent’s decision will be implemented from May 31, the company will update its applications (which are used to increase game speed on mobile devices and PCs). The new versions of these apps will only support games that work in China and will no longer allow users to access foreign games.
Unlike most other countries, gamers in Mainland China are only allowed to play games that are approved by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Although uncensored foreign games are not completely blocked, the Internet speed when accessing these games will be extremely low, and too slow for players to play normally. As a result, many gamers in mainland China have used Tencent’s internet-accelerating apps to access unapproved foreign games like Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto, or Nintendo’s Animal Crossing.
The ban was announced a few days after China lifted a nine-month freeze on gaming licenses.
Reacting to Tencent’s decision to ban, the gaming communities in the US or Europe expressed joy because according to them, Chinese gamers often use tools, cheats, and hacks to dominate and overwhelm them in the games.
