China’s video gaming regulator has approved a new batch of 15 foreign video games, with titles from League of Legends-maker Riot Games, Nintendo and Sega among those to be released in the domestic market, reports the South China Morning Post. The mobile version of Valorant, a popular first-person shooter from Riot, which is based in the US but owned by Tencent Holdings, is among the titles approved on Wednesday by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), the agency in charge of licensing video games in China.
Under Chinese regulations, an overseas video game cannot be monetised in the country without a government permit. Getting approval often involves localisation with censorship of sensitive content and it must be operated through a Chinese partner—often Tencent and NetEase, the country’s two largest video gaming companies.
Valorant’s arrival on smartphones in China has been highly anticipated since the PC version found great commercial success on the mainland, where it launched last July. That was three years after its global release.