China has banned all new mobile games from developers from South Korea due to political and military differences between the governments of Asian countries.
It is reported that this is a response to the deployment of the American missile defense system on the territory of the Republic of Korea. Officially, the weapons are designed to protect against the threat from North Korea, but China regarded this move as “a clear, basic and real threat to the security interests of the People’s Republic of China.”
As a result, China has frozen the licenses of South Korean developers, so their games cannot be published in the country.
This will affect large companies such as Netmarble and Nexon. Nexon shares fell 7% after the announcement of the lockdown. In addition, China requires a 20-day inspection and fulfillment of a number of requirements.
The sanctions will not affect games that have already been licensed, although there is always a risk that the permissions may be revoked.
Source: Venture Beat