Tencent to Bring ‘Socialist-Friendly’ Version of Hit Game ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ to China

Chinese mega-corporation Tencent will import hit game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to China, but only once the game has been appropriately sanitized.

Last month, China’s content regulator said that South Korean developer Blue Hole’s hottest-selling title of 2017 “severely deviates from socialist core values” and would likely be prohibited from sale in the country. In response, Tencent, the Chinese tech empire now worth more than half a trillion dollars, has capitulated, claiming they will “make adjustment to content … and make sure they accord with socialist core values, Chinese traditional culture and moral rules.”

Tencent competitor NetEase already has two “survival” style games at the top of the charts with Terminator 2 and Wilderness. Recently, NetEase added in-game banners saying things like “safeguard national security, safeguard world peace” in a public show of support for China’s ever-tightening grip on entertainment media.

A statement from Tencent publicly assured that PUBG would highlight “healthy, positive cultural and value guidance, especially for underage users” through teamwork and fair competition. But if the breakout hit’s international performance is any indicator, they may be forced to institute another ineffectual curfew, as with popular mobile offering Honor of Kings.

Tencent has previously faced pressure from the Chinese government through state-owned news outlets over its hit mobile game, with The People’s Daily calling Honor of Kings “poison” that is supposedly addicting the country’s youth.

Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.