Nintendo Switch will be available in part of China

A Chinese province has authorized the delivery of the Nintendo Switch in the region. It is the first time that the portable console will be available on the lucrative Chinese market.

The authorities of the Chinese province of Guangdong have approved Chinese gaming giant Tencent to deliver the Nintendo Switch. In addition, Tencent is allowed to release the Switch game ‘New Super Mario Bros. Release U Deluxe’ in the province. Nintendo and Tencent have entered into a partnership for this, Nintendo confirms to the WSJ. To go through the procedures for the delivery of the Xbox and the PlayStation in China, Microsoft and Sony previously worked with Chinese partners.

It is the first time that the Switch will be released in a Chinese region. Until now, buyers in the country could only get their hands on the mobile console through detours. China had a complete ban on the supply of game consoles from 2000 to 2015 because authorities feared a potentially harmful influence. The rules have been relaxed since 2015, but there are still the necessary restrictions to be able to supply game consoles and games.

China is a lucrative market for game companies. Research company Niko estimates that the game turnover in the country last year was 27.3 billion euros. Thanks to the ban on consoles for many years, mobile games and PC games both take up almost half of that.

It may also take a while for the Switch to be a success. Nintendo and Tencent have yet to obtain approval for delivery in regions other than Guangdong and authorities will assess whether this complies with the rules on a game-by-game basis, CNBC writes.