This is determined by the size of the company. If you want to quickly recover development costs, publishing the game in Steam is undoubtedly a better choice.
I thought you could get in trouble for marketing/promoting a game if it doesn't have a license, which is the reason why large publishers have to get bigger titles approved?
Marketing and publicity are allowed, and even a large-scale press conference was held in Shanghai before the release of new COD and Battlefield.
I was under the assumption that for games that haven't obtained approval, the publisher only has limited freedom to promote the game. I assumed that stuff like official trailers and user-generated content on social media platforms like Bilibili are fine because that doesn't violate CAC regulations... but stuff like targeted local ads, influencer/streamer sponsorships, and offline events were a risky grey zone. Do you have more info about this press conference?
Looks cool but narrative-wise it seems like the typical corny patriotic 主旋律 slop that gets pumped out all the time. Don't see this getting much attention internationally unless it's really well-written (doubtful) or has great gameplay (yet to be seen)
I have to say, the graphics look very lackluster.
Given the Chinese government's extreme sensitivity toward political and historical censorship, large-scale games centered on the War of Resistance Against Japan have been virtually nonexistent in China's gaming history. This title effectively breaks the precedent of avoiding historical and political themes, with no comparable competitors currently available in the market.
