Pokémon GO' Banned In China

Pokémon GO won't make its way to China thanks to the Chinese government's penchant for censorship.

The augmented-reality location-based mobile game is a hit the world over, but Chinese gamers will have to make do with knock-offs like City Elves Go.

Reuters reports that the state censor won't allow the game to launch in China pending an evaluation of potential security and safety risks. A games panel of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association (itself governed by the state censor)  determined that the game represented a "threat to geographical information security and the threat to transport and the personal safety of consumers."

In other words, there are two issues at play here: Consumer safety and national security. The first is likely not the motivating factor for the Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. True, there are stories of Pokémon GO players being mugged, getting into traffic accidents, and suffering various other injuries and setbacks. But this in and of itself is unlikely to inspire a ban.

The "threat to geographical information security" is the more likely culprit. It's hardly surprising that the Chinese government is nervous about foreign companies and governments having access to any more geographical data than they already have, even if it is wrapped up in a Pokémon game. After all, Pokémon GO relies heavily on Google Maps to work, which is blocked in China to begin with.

Finally, there's no love lost between China and Japan, which may also be an unspoken reason for the ban. It was only recently that foreign consoles were even allowed to be sold in China, and many Chinese still bristle at the idea of Japanese technology being sold in Chinese territory.