China approves 128 titles in October, including hit Korean game Goddess of Victory: Nikke

Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Supercell’s Squad Busters, both distributed in China by Tencent, were approved by the gaming regulator

Reading Time:2 minutes

A boy plays the video game Black Myth: Wukong in a Sony store in Shanghai on August 26. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 25 Oct 2024Updated: 10:13pm, 25 Oct 2024

China has given the nod to 128 Chinese and foreign video games for domestic release in October, a batch that includes the highly anticipated Goddess of Victory: Nikke, backed by Tencent Holdings, as excitement in the country’s gaming industry continues following the release of Black Myth: Wukong.

The National Press and Publication Administration, the agency responsible for licensing video games, approved the release of 113 domestically developed titles and 15 imported titles, according to the two lists it released on its official website on Friday.

The most notable approved foreign game is Goddess of Victory: New Hope, the domestic version of Goddess of Victory: Nikke, an anime-style role-playing shooting game developed by South Korean gaming studio Shift Up, in which Tencent owns a 35 per cent stake, according to the company’s stock exchange filing in July.

The international version of Goddess of Victory: Nikke, published by Tencent’s video game publishing division Level Infinite, has been a global hit since launching in November 2022.

The domestic title will be jointly published by Tencent and Migu Fun, the gaming platform owned by China’s biggest telecommunications company, China Mobile.

Shenzhen-based Tencent appears to be the big winner in the latest batch of approvals, as it is also the domestic distributor of another approved game, Squad Busters, a mobile action game developed by Finnish video game developer Supercell.