China finally lifts the ban on sale of video game consoles on the country. This means that big video game console manufacturer like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft can now market and manufacturer their respective hardware on the country.
China imposed the ban of video game consoles on the country about 15 years ago. The country's leaders deemed that video game consoles have negative effects on gamers, especially the younger generation.
The ban only covers video game consoles, which means that the PC platform remained unaffected. As a result, PC gaming was one of the biggest industry in the country and it has also produced some of the greatest PC gamer and gaming team in the history of the industry.
Upon hearing the news, a Sony Computer Entertainment commented, "This is great news for us." Microsoft and Nintendo has yet to offer their comments about the recently lifted ban.
According to The Wall Street Journal, China's gaming market including the mobile platform has an estimated market worth of more than $22.2. This makes the country as one of the most coveted region when it comes to console gaming.
The ban on console gaming was imposed in 2000. However, China has started to ease regulations and the Ministry of Culture started a pilot test in 2014 to market consoles to which they assess as successful a drive.
According to Digital Trends, the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Microsoft Xbox One are already available for sale in China. However, their sales output were not that impressive and analysts predict that only about 550,000 combined units will be sold this year.