Current predictions say that by 2010 the Chinese online game market will be worth approximately $3 billion. However, recent developments within the Chinese government have caused a bit of a stir that could possibly slow this growth. The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) recently stated that it will “tighten approval criteria for online game imports in an effort to protect the development of online game enterprises and avoid the excessive penetration of foreign culture among Chinese youth.” The government said it seeks to “control [the] playing time” of minors as well as remove anything that could be deemed, “too scary.”

This is not the first time such restrictions have surfaced.  In the past, foreign online games have had to incorporate what has been dubbed a “fatigue system.” This feature is meant to grant half experience after a period of time, then zero after another period. Through this, play time is limited for those under 18 to a maximum of five hours per day.

Even China’s licensed operator of World of Warcraft, The9, seems to be struggling – it has attempted twice now to gain approval for the latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, without success. As it stands, the game has been had to remove all skeletons (which is huge considering the title is all about the undead as the chief antagonist), implement the fatigue system, and even remove the chief selling point of the expansion, Death Knights (a character class that controls the dead). Nonetheless, this still has not been enough. As China’s JLM Pacific Epoch reports, “the applications were rejected due to content that didn’t meet requirements, including a city raid and skeleton characters…”

It is hard to say whether or not most online and social game developers should be worried, but the GAPP recently held a meeting with many game companies and operators regarding its new approval processes and import polices just last Wednesday (March 18th). Unfortunately, the specifics of this do not yet seem to be public knowledge.