Apple caters to China by pulling thousands of “unlicensed” iPhone games

guest · Jun 22, 2020

Apple caters to China by pulling thousands of “unlicensed” iPhone games
Paid iPhone games need licenses from Chinese gov't to stay on Apple App Store
June 23, 2020
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...pulling-thousands-of-unlicensed-iphone-games/

Apple has told iPhone app developers that it "will start removing thousands of mobile games lacking government approval from its App Store in China next month," Bloomberg reported today, citing anonymous sources. "The decision ends the unofficial practice of allowing games to be published while awaiting authorization from the country's slow-moving regulators."

As Bloomberg notes, "China's regulators require all games that are either paid or offer in-app purchases to submit for review and obtain a license before publication, and major Android app stores have enforced such rules since 2016. But unapproved games have flourished on Apple's iPhone platform."
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Apple has pulled apps from the App Store in China numerous times to comply with Chinese rules and requests from the government.

Despite its willingness to comply with Chinese authorities in those cases, Apple's policy toward unlicensed games was permissive until the new change. The policy shift could affect about 20,000 games that don't have a Chinese government license, according to an estimate cited by Bloomberg. The estimate came from AppInChina, a vendor that helps clients publish apps in China.
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Comment
Interestingly this isn't JUST censorship. This also massively protectionist by making it incredibly hard for the vast majority of companies outside China to have a high enough ROI to deal with going through the approval process. [...]
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guest · Jul 16, 2020

More Than 2,500 Mobile Games Removed from China’s App Store in First Seven Days of July as ISBN Crackdown Bites
July 14, 2020
https://sensortower.com/blog/game-removals-from-china-app-store

More than 2,500 mobile games were removed from China’s App Store in the first seven days of July following a crackdown on titles that are available without a license for release, according to Sensor Tower App Intelligence data.
Strict Regulations
China’s mobile gaming regulations require that all titles receive a license from the country’s National Press and Publication Administration before release, confirming that the app meets the country’s strict rules on content.

Despite this, many titles were previously able to release on China’s App Store without such approval. Now, however, Apple will be adhering to the nation’s regulations, and developers will have until July 31 to enter their approval number and supporting documentation to their game’s page in App Store Connect.
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The games removed in the first week of July had generated a combined $34.7 million in lifetime gross revenue in China, with one accumulating more than $10 million, and just six that earned over $1 million. The titles had racked up a combined 133.4 million lifetime downloads in China, with one title generating more than 10 million installs, while 30 had picked up over one million.
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guest · Jul 30, 2020

15,000 games removed from Apple’s App Store in China ahead of registration deadline
July 30, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/07/30/...tore-in-china-ahead-of-registration-deadline/

Unlicensed mobile games are dropping like flies from the Apple App Store as China’s deadline for registration approaches on Friday.

At the request of the Chinese government, Apple has removed nearly 15,000 games since July 1, with more likely to disappear when the August 1 requirement for registration arrives, said Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad over email.

“We expect thousands of games to be removed from the China App Store this year,” he said.
Foreign companies have to have a Chinese game publisher apply to get an ISBN from the Chinese National Press and Publication Administration. That process takes about 80 business days, according to publisher Cocos. The NPPA approves or denies games based on its censorship laws.

As a result of the removals, Niko Partners does not expect the enforcement of the regulation to have a significant impact on overall revenue. On the other hand, 50 of the top 100 downloaded games on the China App Store are unlicensed, which means there could be a notable impact on lower grossing casual games and those from small and medium sized developers.
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Apple announced in February that it would begin to comply with China’s regulations and is no longer allowing new game launches or game updates without a license number.
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guest · Aug 1, 2020

Apple removes 30,000 apps from China App Store to comply with regulations for paid games
August 1, 2020
https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/01/app-store-china-games-removed/

Apple has removed over 30,000 applications from the App Store in China, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report cites new data from Qimai Research Institute, and it explains that games accounted for 90% of the app removals.

Apple removed many of the apps overnight, with the peak occurring around 4:15 a.m. local time, when Apple detected over 2,000 applications from the App Store. The majority of the 30,000 deletions occurred between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time.
Apple has actually been gradually removing thousands of applications from the App Store for this reason. As Technode reported earlier this month, Apple removed more than 3,000 games form the China App Store over the course of July 1 and July 2.

The report explained that Apple is working to comply with strict gaming regulations in China, which require that developers gain approval from Chinese regulators:
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guest · Aug 6, 2020

Apple has removed almost 42,000 games so far in App Store licensing purge in China
August 6, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/08/06/...so-far-in-app-store-licensing-purge-in-china/

To comply with Chinese law, Apple has removed nearly 42,000 games from the App Store in China since July 1 because these apps didn’t have proper licenses.

Market researcher Niko Partners found that Apple removed 14,914 games in July ahead of a July 31 deadline to comply with a 2016 regulation that requires games to have a publishing license (International Standard Book Number, or ISBN) to operate in China. It removed another 26,815 games August 1.
Niko expects any remaining unlicensed titles to be removed by the end of December, analyst Daniel Ahmad said in a message.
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guest · Aug 18, 2020

Apple removes thousands of games from the Chinese App Store, alarming observers
More than 47,000 games were removed
August 18, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/18/21374246/apple-china-chinese-operations-restrictions

As tensions rise between the US and China, Apple’s Chinese operations — which include millions of Apple customers and much of the company’s manufacturing operation — could be at risk. A new report in The Information argues that China may already be closing the loopholes exploited by Apple in previous years, starting with the recent removal of thousands of apps from the Chinese App Store. That could potentially spell trouble for the company’s future in the country.

Apple pulled more than 47,000 apps from the Chinese App Store earlier this month, as first reported by AppInChina.
That wasn’t the first time Apple had been strong-armed into making significant changes to its services in China, either.
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But Apple’s entire App Store operation in China also depends on a loophole of its own, the report claims. Foreign app stores in China are usually required to be joint ventures with a Chinese partner that’s a majority owner and operator, according to the report, but Apple operates the App Store on its own.

Apple has also apparently avoided sharing the source code for iOS with China so far, having negotiated an exemption with the Chinese government to not have to do so.
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App Store regulations could tighten in China, says report

Apple is seeking to register an entity within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone as a means to continue operating in the country without a Chinese joint venture partner, but that this has met roadblocks:

According to people familiar with the matter, Chinese officials have said they won't grant it until Apple makes more concessions that allow regulators to approve what goes into the App Store.

Until the issue is resolved, there is a risk that Chinese regulators could shut down the China App Store, which contains nearly 1.5 million apps.
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One such example of tightening restriction was a move that forced Apple to remove thousands of games from its China App Store over changes to licensing and regulations. The report says that this crackdown may be "just the beginning."
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guest · Dec 23, 2020

Apple removed nearly 100,000 games from App Store in China in 2020
Games must be approved by the Chinese government before they can be published
December 23, 2020
https://www.imore.com/apple-removed-nearly-100000-games-app-store-china-2020

A new report says Apple removed nearly 100,000 games from its App Store in China in 2020, although that number could be as high as 140,000 according to separate reports.
From The Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc. is booting thousands of videogame apps from its platform in China as the government clamps down harder on such content, illustrating the tech giant's vulnerability to state pressure on its business. [...]
The memo referred to was reported by AppInChina on December 7, which tells developers:

As you may know, Chinese law requires games to obtain an approval number from China's National Press and Publication Administration. [...]
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The WSJ report says that Apple has removed "at least 94,000" games, according to data from Sensor Tower. However, AppInChina's tracking report suggests this is more like 140,000 and counting, as it doesn't include December's figures.
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guest · Dec 31, 2020

Apple Removes 39,000 Games From China App Store
December 31, 2020
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/31/apple-removes-39000-game-apps-from-china-store/

Apple on Thursday removed nearly 39,000 apps from its Chinese App Store due to the apps lacking an official license from local regulators, reports Reuters.

The report, which cites data from research firm Qimai, says that games affected by the cull included Ubisoft title Assassin's Creed Identity and NBA 2K20. According to Qimai, only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games on the China App Store survived the purge.
In addition to the 39,000 games, the report says Apple also removed more than 46,000 apps in total from its store.
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guest · Jan 2, 2022

Over 140,000 gaming firms close as China continues new license freeze
January 2, 2022

China is continuing to hold off from issuing new game licenses to app developers producing for the App Store and other platforms, in regulatory inaction that has reportedly led to the shuttering of around 140,000 small game studios and related companies in the country.

Under Chinese law, game developers must be licensed in order to sell games in the App Store and in other app marketplaces. While regulators stopped issuing new licenses in late 2021, it seems that the ban on new licenses is set to continue into 2022.
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The National press and Publication Administration (NPPA), which issues licenses for games in China, is continuing to abstain from publishing lists of new approved games. Following on from a suspension that started at the end of July, the South China Morning Post reports it has now become the longest suspension of new game licenses since a nine-month blackout in 2018.
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