Since so many Chinese airlines livery has been developed and airports being set up, I think it would be worthwhile for IF to develop a local server for Chinese users. There used to be lots of staffed airports open on the Expert Server, but now, there is barely anyone there. Even if there are other companies that might take cut in this, I still think it would be worthwhile to get back to the Chinese app store by adding China’s local server. There used to be many Chinese users for IF, including some IFATC members, but now they are looking for other aviation games that are available in China, such as the X-plane on computers.
There are also virtual airlines that are being developed, such as the Air China Virtual and China Southern Virtual.
List of Chinese Liveries in IF
Air China Boeing 787-9
Air China Boeing 737-700
Air China Boeing 747
China Southern Boeing 787-8
Xiamen Airlines Boeing 787-8
China Eastern Airlines A350-900
Hainan Airlines A330-300
etc.
We currently do not have any plan to officially come back to the Chinese market for the following reasons
We would be required to partner with a local publisher that would take a cut of all our sales. FYI Google and Apple already take 15-30%, US tax takes 40-50% of the remainder after we pay for all of our expenses (employees, servers, software, etc…)
Games are not allowed to depict real locations. This means we would need to make a special version with a fake world in order to respect this requirement.
Everything need to be translated, including cockpits and liveries (even the ones that are not Chinese). This is not impossible but this means we would have to remove most liveries if we wanted to make it work in a reasonable amount of time.
We would be required to implement a special SDK that would verify the Real ID of our users and limit how long they are allowed to use Infinite Flight (China recently announced that young users will be limited to 3 hours a week). While we respect that each country can set its own rules for its citizens, this goes against our beliefs about privacy and personal freedom.
On top of a game license, we would be required to operate our live services from China (and apply for a license to do so). Duplicating our cloud infrastructure in China would be expensive.
Note that we tried partnering with a Chinese publisher but we quickly realized that there are too many requirements to make this viable.
We are very frustrated not being able to offer a better solution than directing our users to use a VPN, but there is not much else we can do at this point.
If anybody is aware of a good solution, please feel free to DM me.
I think the 3 hours/week rule makes sense for young users because they need to spend time on school work, and playing IF too much is bad for their eyes. I don’t think there is any specific rule regarding how long an adult can play.
Also, I think partnering with Tencent might be a good idea. They have existing system on the ID certification part. Even if we cannot do it in App store, we can have it in Tencent app store, named YINGYONGBAO for Andriod. There are other companies that are available for partnership, such as Netease. There is also AlibabaGames. Just select the one that offers the best deal and in compliance with the regulations.
I do not think translation is required after partnering with these companies. There are many Western games in China are not translated. For example, Temple Run, Subway Surf, etc.
Also, I think that after partnering with these companies, it is possible to negotiate with these companies not to make the entire world map fake. I think after some modification of the map and deletion of Chinese military airports, and other military-civilian airport, the method should make it work.
Finally, I think the Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Development Co., Ltd. (GCBD) will offer a good price for cloud infrastructure, which is what apple has been doing to operate in China. @philippe
I do not think translation is required after partnering with these companies. There are many Western games in China are not translated. For example, Temple Run, Subway Surf, etc.
Those are exceptions. There are ways to go around this rule but there is no guaranty.
Also, I think partnering with Tencent might be a good idea. They have existing system on the ID certification part
This is not that straightforward. This type of partnership takes time and as I mentioned in my previous post, it would mean giving our local partner a significant portion of our sales.
Also, I think that after partnering with these companies, it is possible to negotiate with these companies not to make the entire world map fake.
It is a lot of hoops to jump through with no guaranty that we would obtain a game license.
We gave is an honest try earlier this year (quite expensive process) and unfortunately we had to cancel our plans due to lack of resources and too many constraints.
If you know someone at Tencent who is willing to take IF to the chinese market, feel free to give them my contact info :)
But Chinese users do not use Google play in general. So, after partnering with Tencent or similar companies, there is no need to partner with Google to get the app listed in China. This is for Android only.
But Chinese users do not use Google play in general. So, after partnering with Tencent or similar companies, there is no need to partner with Google to get the app listed in China.
Most other Chinese app store take the same cut of sales (usually 30% and sometime even 50% for games)
@StevenCRH I understand that this is very frustrating for our Chinese users. If there was a good solution to this I would go for it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, after attempting the process ourselves and also doing a lot of research, it is not something we can do at the moment.
Yeah, I think after IF got taken down in China, not only the Chinese airports are less likely to be staffed, but also many airports in East Asia, like RKSI, RKPC, and ROAH, are being impacted… Which is so sad…
Also, I might have another possible solution. It is to make IF available on computers, both Mac and Windows, and then partner with Steam. This is what x-plane did. It works in China, although I understand it is a very costly solution.
If I have received other information about Tencent, I will let you know! :) @philippe
Tbh, China already banned under 18 years old for gaming (but 3 hrs per week), not sure if they gonna consider Infinite flight as one of them（games）. And also, there’re lot of consideration need to be done to evaluate a game. A good example such as Minecraft, which they has modified a lot of content in order to publish it.
Ps: Prob infinite flight can open a sub headquarters in China and create a local server for them, just like Steven mentioned in this artical. But i don’t think is worthwhile doing it as the developer need to follow their rules to meet requirements and then they can publish it.
I think that’s more to do with China not having a 3D airport or Air China having the 77W or A350 but don’t quote me on that I have still seen plenty of aircraft at Seoul and Tokyo
