China temporarily lifts foreign game console sales ban

China’s State Council has temporarily lifted a ban on the sale of foreign games consoles, paving the way for firms like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to enter a multi-billion dollar video game market. The suspension of the 14-year-old ban permits “foreign-invested enterprises” to make games consoles within Shanghai’s free trade zone and sell them in China, providing they gain government approval, the government said in a statement posted on its website on Monday. 

The 1.35 billion people in China represent an enormous, untapped market for console gaming. Today, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony might have hope that they can soon start selling their systems in that massive market … but new regulations could dampen those hopes. Yesterday, the Chinese government revealed it is temporarily lifting the ban on the sale of foreign game consoles, as first reported by Reuters. Those rules, which China put in place in the early 2000s, prohibited console manufacturers from selling their products within the country.