According to CNET, Monster Hunter: World was on sale on Tencent’s new Wegame platform for only five days before being banned by the Chinese government. Supposedly, the authorities received “numerous reports” about the game’s failure to meet regulatory requirements. What this specifically implies is not clear, though CNET cited a Financial Times article supporting the idea that it was pulled due to “‘bureaucratic infighting’ stemming from China’s new media regulator.” If this is true, we probably won’t be receiving a reasonable explanation any time soon.
In the past, some games like PUBG had to be modified to reflect core socialist principles before being able to enter the Chinese market. It is possible that the suspension of Monster Hunter: World’s sales is only temporary and could be lifted if Capcom likewise makes some adjustments to the game to better appease Chinese regulators. It wasn’t exactly clear what kind of changes Tencent and PUBG Corp. had to make for the Chinese release of PUBG, so it’s difficult to make any guesses as to what Capcom could do to lift the ban on MHW.
At the end of the day, Chinese gamers who simply wanted to get their Monster Hunter fix are the ones suffering the most from this situation. Tencent has already notified all users who had already purchased the game that they have only one week to apply for a refund. As a form of compensation, the company is also giving all affected accounts a 30 yuan (4.4 USD) coupon. It’s a decent gesture, but I’m inclined to believe most gamers would prefer to actually be able to play Monster Hunter: World rather than receiving a small bit of free money.
For players who’ve already downloaded the game and choose not to take the refund, they’ll still be able to continue playing the game for some time, though there’s no telling how long they will be able to do so. Tencent warns that the games’ services will not be supported leaving the exact state of gameplay post refund-period to be completely unknown.
Featured Image Source: Monster Hunter Wiki
