INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch China Roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to
people in the rest of the world
This week, Apple made some major moves that are telling of its increasingly compliant behavior in China where it has seen escalating
competition, but investors are showing dissatisfaction with how it is approaching hot-button issues in the country.
Virus game gone
Plague
Inc., a simulation game where a player goal is to infect the entire world with a deadly virus, was removed from the China iOS App Store this
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in late January, Chinese users had flocked to download the eight-year-old game, potentially
seeking an alternative way to understand the epidemic.
Data from market research firm App Annie shows that the title remained the most
downloaded app in China from late January through most of February, up from No
28 at the beginning of the year.
Ndemic Creations, the U.K
studio behind the game, said in a statement that the &situation& — the removal of Plague Inc
from the Apple App Store — &is completely out of our control.& The Chinese government provided an opaque reason for the takedown, saying
the game &includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China,& which is the country internet
watchdog.
The incident has gotten plenty of attention in and outside of China
Some speculate that Apple has caved to pressure from Beijing, which could find Plague Inc
One sticking point is that its tutorial by default picks China as the starting country, although in the main game a user can begin anywhere
The Information reported in 2018 that Plague Inc
actually applied for official permission to distribute in China but was turned down on account of its &socially inappropriate&
content.
Others including Niko Partners games analyst Daniel Ahmad suggested that the Chinese authority might have taken issue with a
December version update that allowed players to create &fake news,& which could mislead them in seeking advice in the midst of the health
crisis.
Ahmad also suggested that the ban might have been linked to the ongoing crackdown of unlicensed mobile games in China
ban coincided with Apple announcement this week that would require all games in its Chinese app store to obtain government approval in the
form of an ISBN number beginning in July
Few details have come to light about what this new regulatory process entails
Nor do developers know whether currently published games without official approval will be removed.
Plague Inc, the popular simulation
game where the goal is to infect everyone in the world with a deadly virus, has been removed from the iOS app store in China.
The Cyber
Administration of China says the game included illegal content
No other specifics.https://t.co/73dNNJlgmX pic.twitter.com/lYqQ4TASeY
mdash; Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 27, 2020
Apple investors are
not sitting well with the firm app takedowns in China
40% of its shareholders cast support for a proposal that would force Apple to uphold human rights commitment and be more transparent on how
it responds to Beijing requests to censor apps.
Apple Delay
The gaming permit requirement is not new, though
In fact, Apple is just closing a regulatory loophole that had existed for years
Back in 2016, the Chinese government stipulated that video games — both PC and mobile — must apply for an ISBN number before entering
Within months, alternative Android stores operated by domestic tech giants swiftly moved to weed out illegal games
The official Google Play store is unavailable in China.
But Apple has managed to keep unlicensed titles in stock in the world largest gaming
market, where content is strictly monitored
The American behemoth has many incentives to do so
Despite iPhone eroding share in China (to be fair, all Chinese phone makers but Huawei have recently suffered declining market share), iOS
apps in China, especially games, remain an important revenue source for Apple.
So it in Apple best interest to clear hurdles for apps
publishing in the country
Where there is a will, there is a way
Prior to 2016, publishing a game in China was relatively hassle-free
Following the regulatory change that year, Apple began asking games for proof of government license — but it didn''t go all out to enforce
Local media reported that developers could get by with fabricated ISBN numbers or circumvent the rule by publishing in an overseas iOS App
Store first and switching to China later.
This questionable practice did not go unnoticed
In August 2018, a Chinese state media lambasted Apple for its lousy oversight over App Store approvals.
Stepping up inspection on games will
likely have little impact on China gaming titans who enjoy the financial and operational resources to secure the much-needed permit
Rather, their challenge is devising content that aligns with Beijing ideological guidelines, exemplified by Tencent patriotic makeover of
PUBG.
Those that will be worst hit will most likely be small-time, independent studios, as well as firms that create &sockpuppet games&
(马甲包), a practice whereby a developer exploits app stores& loopholes to publish a troop of clones with similar gameplay
and mask their appearance with altered names, logos and characters
Doing so can often help the publisher gain more traffic and revenue, but these sockpuppets will have a low chance of passing the authority
strict scrutiny, which, as a Chinese gaming blog speculates, will potentially put an end to the surreptitious practice.
