Apple will be purging its online App Store in China of mobile games and apps that are not registered or lack government approval. According to sources with knowledge in the matter, Apple had already sent out notifications to all developers and publishers in China, informing them that they have to acquire licenses for their apps and games before July. Those that will not comply will have their apps and games removed from the App Store.
The move essentially ends the long-standing practice of temporarily allowing apps and games to stay on the App Store while they are still awaiting approval from regulators. The approval and authorization process in China often takes weeks if not months before completion.
Through the loophole, games such as Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto are downloadable in China. However, it is very unlikely that the game will receive approval from Chinese censors given its depiction of gore, sex, and violence. All video games that are paid or have in-app purchases are subject to stricter review.
Since 2016, major Android-based app stores in China had already implemented measures that do not allow unlicensed or unapproved apps and games on their respective platform. However, unapproved apps have continued to flourish on Apple's App Store. For this reason, Apple had become the target of regulatory crackdowns.
Experts have pointed out that part of the reason Apple had allowed unapproved games to be available on its platform is the immensely slow speeds at which Chinese regulators give out approvals. Due to the increased regulatory scrutiny, Apple has started to ramp up its oversight of the content on its App Store. Earlier in the month, Apple had removed to podcast apps at the behest of the Chinese government.
In February, Apple had told developers and publishers that they needed to obtain licenses for their apps by June. The latest announcement is likely the company's last warning as part of its efforts to enforce its new policy. Apple explicitly stated that it will automatically remove and ban all non-compliant apps from the App Store by July.
It isn't yet clear how much time it would take Apple to remove the thousands of unlicensed apps and games on its Chinese App Store. However, one thing is for sure, hundreds of non-compliant publishers and developers will likely stand to lose millions of dollars come July. In 2019, around a fifth of digital sales from Apple's App Store had come from China. This makes it the second-largest market for digital goods and services after the US.
