New Programs Available: “Roblox China” Licensed to Operate

Could Roblox provide an official kit that contains the Simplified Chinese translations for Roblox branding?

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They aren’t. Seems like they’re adding a brand new ragdoll system that is enabled in China, actually.

image

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This isn’t a post about laws in China. It’s about bringing your game to the Chinese market.
You can expect a lot of currently successful games to apply as this is a huge opportunity to expand to one of the largest (unfortunately separate) audiences in the world. The goal here is capitalization on Luobu in order to bring success to existing Roblox game developers and studios.

Think of it this way:
This is your chance to show your creations to a new audience that happens to comprise more than a billion people.

If you disagree with bringing your game to China due to your own ethical beliefs, you don’t have to apply.

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This is China’s Ragdoll System:

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I could see that as a benefit for both players and developers in a way. Roblox isn’t forcing you at all it’s really a choice. Do you want to dip your toes in the Chinese market or do you not want to. Either way, It’s fine from my perspective. They aren’t forcing the Chinese guidelines on to all of us and it could allow for more curated content at least until local developers eventually populate LuoBuLeSi.

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Seems to be the same ragdoll system also used in the endorsed NPCs made by Roblox.

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Its nice to see that Roblox is going to be in China it brings out more people to go on Roblox and it can also bring out more talented people who are from China. But I still refuse to localize my games for the Chinese market because of restrictions from the local government there and also the censorship there as well. Good luck to anyone who is applying to this program!

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[I tried to edit my post but edits appear to be locked??]

got one more question:

Would games that are near release (or perhaps even just released) be eligible to apply? if so, which programs?

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For the China Fast Track program, are you guys looking for already completed game experiences that require alterations for compliance in this new market or are you looking for unfinished experiences that can be developed as China friendly game experiences upon release?

Just wondering because it may be easier to build China-friendly game experiences from the ground up than to create new versions of existing games that are China-friendly. Imagine having to rewrite thousands of lines of code for compliance purposes in an existing game versus just writing the code from scratch in a still in development game to offer dual market compliance.

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Yes, but at what cost?

I find it very silly to dismiss concerns over Chinese law when they most certainly will affect development for the Chinese market.

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It seems like a cool program, but I don’t see much success in restricting the age of the participants. A majority of roblox’s games are made by people under the age of 18. It would be nice to have a heads up that this program is only for 18+

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China brings in a large audience, with its population at 1.47 billion, more than 3 times the population of the US. I can see why Roblox has chosen to move in this direction. Although reading from previous comments, it seems a lot of people are in disagreement with China’s policies, which I also have some concerning thoughts about. This is why there’s an option to participate in the program or not.

Roblox is trying to expand its market and player count even more, and this is one of the steps it’s willing to take. Though there’s a lot of controversy on China’s laws and policies, it can also be seen as an opportunity for developers to present their games to a new audience, allowing substantial growth for Roblox as a whole.

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I think most of our questions for this great new expansion is how will roblox protect the developer? That isn’t really stated, and it seems where most of the concern is.

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Right, you do have to follow US/UK laws, but Chinese laws are known to be heavily enforced, regardless of how ridiculous they seem. (especially since said laws like the national security law don’t exist here in the US)

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Not gonna lie these Terms of Use seems kinda… wierd… And i hope not many developers join this program.

No Content that Disrespects Chinese History and Traditional Culture I think we all know what is this talking about
NO Content that harms Chinese national honor and interests, NO Content (names/events/images/likeness/comments) relating to a Chinese past or current national leader,
In order for UGC to comply with PRC laws, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau should not be referred to as separate countries and many more

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I think what it comes down to is that if you don’t like the program don’t sign up for it. Yes China is controversial but I wouldn’t ruin the experience for others. This gives a numerous amount of games to grow and expand their marketing. I think the benefits really do out weigh the negatives.

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Not to mention, one that has a monopolistic superpower. I’m not sure what control they have over companies, but that thought alone scares me.

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You can’t really “steal” an ip address, you can only log them. ALL (or atleast most) websites–including roblox, already log your ip. There is alot of information you can gain from an ip address, but only through combined information can they gain information on your home address, name, and other personally identifying information. Which for the most part, would require you to have put your personal information online through methods like social media. Even then, it would require a human to actually figure out the most sensitive information about you.

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While this is a good step for getting new players, I think a lot of developers on the platform can agree that it’s a not a very good idea. We’ve all seen the amount of things that happen in China, and the outrageous amount of censorship they have. This will make it difficult for most popular games on the platform currently to be eligible. I can’t see many unique games that will be on the platform for China, as most of them would most likely break the rules.

There is also the issue of many people simply not trusting Tencent or even China in general.

A lot needs to be further discussed, but this is a step in the right direction, even if it’s one a majority may not like.

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