China's Game Console Ban Lifted: How Will PS4, Xbox One Make Money with So Much Piracy in the Country?
This week China's government has lifted a 14-year old ban on devices. These devices included game consoles like our popular Xboxes , PlayStations and Wii devices. You see, in China, the government believed that these video games created a "negative effect on the mental health of its youth." Guess they changed their minds because as of now, China welcomes the popular game consoles Americans know so well.
Just because the Chinese government had such a ban on our generation did not mean that the consoles and games were not being sold illegally or "bootlegged." This is where Microsoft, SONY and Nintendo will find a problem in sales. Yes, the ban is off, but kids are probably going to continue buying games for $1.65 from their usual bootlegger, instead of the $60 an average game goes for.
Zhang Yang has sold Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations at his Beijing shop for as long as the devices have been available. "The consoles that Zhang sells are smuggled into China, modified or 'cracked' to play pirated games," which has kept his shop up and running. Another problem that games corporation face are that Chinese gamers have became accustomed to playing free games on their PCs and mobiles through out the years. You cannot miss something you have never had.
"Console vendors will need to incorporate a business model for a piracy-rich environment," said Lisa Hanson, a U.S. based Managing Director at Niko Partners, a research firm focused on Asian games market. "They need to understand who the gamers are, what they demand, what are they not getting out of the current PC game experience that they could from a console game," Hanson added.
So while it is easy to sell Call of Duty to kids anywhere else in the world, a very carefully thought out marketing plan must teach Chinese kids how to appreciate the game. Something to also think about is how to convince parents in China to purchase the consoles and games for their "positive shield minded" kids. Have you seen that episode of South Park where Cartman organizes an entire Black Friday troop filled with betrayal and lies in order to get their hands on a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? (Hilarious, by the way). Yeah... That's how obsessed gamers can really get.
Good luck to game consoles in their new journey into success in the strict Chinese Market.