Yesterday, a report from The Wall Street Journal revealed Nintendo had submitted an official request to the Chinese government to sell the Switch within the country. Part of this request was a partnership with Tencent Holdings - one of China's biggest tech and gaming companies.
In the latest update, Tencent has now been given the approval to start selling New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Switch bundle in mainland China. The news has resulted in Nintendo's shares surging by more than 13%. This was the highest they've been since 18th October last year.
As exciting as this sounds for fans within this region, Niko Partners Analyst Daniel Ahmad said Nintendo and Tencent would still need authorisation from other regulators and approval for individual games could take some time:
“Nintendo and Tencent will also need to submit each game for approval in China and ensure the games comply with content regulations. This too is a lengthy process and means that it will take some time before Nintendo can build up a large library of official games in China."
Nintendo teaming up with the largest video game company within China is sure to help the situation. Investors are also hoping Nintendo can eventually release its smartphone games within this market by getting Tencent to help them develop a mobile strategy.
[source cnbc.com]
Comments 26
Nintendo drops million sellers games: shares drop
Rumour that maybe Nintendo will start selling on china and may not get approved: 13% rise in shares
Sure why not
Final Fantasy IX does horribly in China
Final Fantasy X is renamed in China to Ranger Titus with the characters now for no reason use Chinese phones and Wechat.
This makes sense. Standards of living have been constantly on the rise in China for three decades. At some point people start to value time and convenience above money and will buy games instead of pirating them.
It’ll be good for Nintendo to actually start making some money from their products in China. The Switch is readily available in Beijing and Shanghai, along with most games, but I doubt Nintendo actually sees any money from their sale.
@Kasma88 i guess re-sellers export them from othter countries...so Nintendo still make some money. Its the chinese government that don't make any money from taxes. Too big of a cost to reverse engineer them yet...
@KingdomHeartsFan I've always felt Nintendo's stock has been vastly undervalued. They own IP's and characters that are more recognizable than Mickey Mouse himself.
It'd be foolish to sell now, especially with Detective Pikachu 3 weeks away, new hardware on the horizon, no strong or new competition from Sony or Microsoft, a mainline Pokémon game this year, and Nintendo virtually hosting the Olympic Games next summer. If played right, their stock could double within the next 18 months
@Kasma88
A lot of Chinese are importing the Switch from what I've seen. My friends tell me how their relatives go around Asian countries to buy a Switch and a stack of games.
Hopefully this eliminates the really bad Chinese ripoffs of Mario games like the Mario Galaxy ripoff years ago.
Well, guess this will be the first region bound switch Don't think they'll be allowed to release the Switch if it can access games from 'unregulated' regions. It's no secret that every game has to be approved before release afteral..
Just in time for Xmas ;D
People in China will buy the console but won't buy any games. They know how to pirate it.
Once 'Rampant piracy in China' news spread, shares will drop again.
Good thing I bought shares a few weeks back ✌
I work in Beijing and I've never had much trouble finding any switch game I want on release day simply by taking a trek downtown. All of the first party Nintendo games that are published in the China region (Taiwan/Hong Kong) come with English anyway. Some games, like Ys VIII, I'm not sure if the Chinese or Japanese release will have the English option, but the North American edition will usually show up on Taobao a week after release. I just have to ship it from Shanghai or Shenzhen for dirt cheap.
I learned my lesson with some games like Xenoblade 2 (no, not Chronicles) when I had to play the whole thing in Chinese. But I also learned that a lot of releases, such as the Koei Techmo games, have simplified Chinese with their Japanese release, but no English. They seem to already be considering this market.
I'm not sure how much money is getting back to Nintendo, but the games are usually all about retail price. The only time I felt inconvenienced was when Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee came out and none of the stores had the Pokeballs on release day because, having batteries, they had to be shipped by boat. Or there is the time I bought the North American release of Bayonetta 2 but there simply wasn't a download code for Bayonetta 1 included. There wasn't even the sticker that promised one on the box.
But I'm not so sure Tencent distributing Nintendo games is going to help with piracy. Nor am I convinced there is a big piracy problem with contemporary Nintendo games here. It's mostly the older ones. Plenty of people in my office have a switch and I'm convinced the growing middle class would prefer to buy the real deal. My biggest concern is that the current system for getting games here, which works, will be shuttered in favor of propping up this new deal that promises huge delays for releases and censored content. Nintendo wins, but I'm not sure if Chinese gamers do. At the very least the masses will be aware of all these awesome games the rest of the world is obsessing about instead of their stupid tencent or netease smartphone games.
@MossBossRoss
That sounds so terrible, games that need to be approved by the government before you can play. What’s more amazing is that people are actually pushing for restrictions on speech like that in the U.S. They want hate speech banned, which sounds like a great idea on paper, until you start digging into it. Who decides what qualifies as hate speech? Some women find it hateful to be hit on. Some Christians would define atheism as hate speech. Other’s take offense to jokes and would call authorities in a rage. It’s shocking how few people understand that you have to allow for the fringe to exist, idiots to say idiotic things in order to have real freedom of speech. Start policing it, and we end up in a bad spot.
As I posted previously I feel sorry for Chinese gamers that missed out on the NES, Super NES, Gamecube and Wii release. So many classics on these systems. From what I understand the N64 got a release in China under iQue player.
China's new Social Credit Score system that's being rolled out and will be fully implemented by 2021 punishes people for playing too many video games. Get a negative score and you are basically made an outcast until you can become a 'better' person.
@nintendolie Potentially (not a definite given) if a Chinese company is distributing games and is being hurt by the piracy, then the Chinese government would crack down on some piracy. Potentially.
I know for sure that if it is a non-Chinese company being affected, the Chinese government doesn't give a f***.
@Severian I can imagine! When I was in Beijing recently, there were at least five independent stores selling switches, games and accessories on one street. The small Chinese city I was living in had one store that I knew of too.
It's a me "Chang". Let'sa go "support the ruling communist party". Hello!
The Chinese gaming market is more digital so games like indies, Crapcom, and Wolfenstein Youngblood would make sense over there but places like Play-Asia and Nin-Nin Games kept selling physical copy there when we here in North America and Japan needs physical the most. This entire gaming gen is so weird it's like publisher don't know which road to take, Chinese and all of Asia (except Japan) are digital, worldwide needs physical, get with the picture publishers. People kept saying get with times cause the all digital future is coming but can't wait for backwards compatibility for the PS5, if the PS5 even had backwards compatibility why would it be an all digital future?
In the Switch's case, the more the merrier!
A lot of people in China already have the Switch. Cool living here because not much of a shipping cost on Japanese and HK versions of games.
Nintendo IP here is really well known. I see fake Pikachus and Marios everywhere.
@Galarian_Lassie Shouldn't it be FFVIII though if that's what you're getting at? And like Last Jedi, FFVIII is also extremely divisive among fans of the series and game critics so it makes too much sense.
Ranger Tidus lol.
@MossBossRoss Thank you! Finally someone who understands the current situation in China and is not just talking bs! I lived in Beijing until mid of last year for roughly for years. I imported my switch because it was cheaper and safer for warranty (and I was on business trip anyway ).
But, as you said, you van basically get every game you want either in a shop or on taobao. The prices are very similar to europe, sometimes even cheaper. The Japanese region games are even more cheap, probably due to easy import.
For the people here crying because of piracy in China: why would Chinese wait to pirate switch games until the system is officially available? Why did they not do it until today? Probably because it's not that easy.
And why should piracy be a China-only topic? As far as I'm concerned most homebrew etc., what in the end makes a lot of piracy possible, comes not from China.
Also, the fact that Nintendo joins with Tencent doesn't mean they share any hardware knowledge. Beside that, the Switch is already "Made in China", so the production knowledge is already in "enemies territory".
Jeez, some people just need to get theit sh*t together and De-Trump their brains...
@retro_player_22 Why do you think China is all digital?
@Kasma88
Your statement doesn't even make sense. For the Switch console and games to even be available in China at this moment means that they were purchased elsewhere first, then imported.
That's like saying Nintendo doesn't see any money when Switches are given away as birthday gifts...
@KennyBania
Well, aren't you the charmer! I get what you're saying, and I'm going to blame my jet lag for the mistake, but try and approach things in a slightly more friendly manner next time.
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