The N5 hall at ChinaJoy was dedicated to mobile games.
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Chinese agency appears serious about approving every single mobile game

A Chinese government agency in charge of censorship has issued a notice saying that mobile game makers must submit their content for approval with the agency 20 days prior to launch. Those that are already in the market have to submit those previously published games as well by October.

Lisa Cosmas Hanson, a managing partner at Niko Partners, said that she read an translated version of the new regulation, and it appears “very comprehensive.” The Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) focused its announcement solely on mobile games, not non-game mobile apps, she said.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.