China Drops 15-Year ‘Mental Health’ Ban On Game Consoles

For a decade and a half, the Chinese government thought console games would rot your brains. 

But gamers on the Mainland have been given a reprieve this week; companies including Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will finally be allowed to make and sell their consoles anywhere in China.

The foreign consoles were banned in 2000, with the government citing the ‘mental wellbeing of China’s youth’ as a primary factor. In the years since, they have continued to release systematic edicts banning various games and gaming communities by targeting distributors and companies. Often, the games have been lumped together with porn bans, earmarked as too depraved for China’s youth.

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