"We Were the Porters of Overseas Media": An Investigation into the Gaming Information Media Under the Influence of the State

This paper investigates how Chinese gaming information media, particularly editors who cover foreign-developed consoles and single-player games, have been shaped by state policy and discourse. It argues that the Chinese state's techno-nationalist strategies, including the 2000 ban on foreign-made gaming consoles, the restriction of game licensing, and negative portrayals in local news media, have constrained the official market for imported games and forced local media workers to improvise in order to serve Chinese audiences.

The study is framed as an exploratory qualitative inquiry drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation and participation, and analysis of archival materials. Its preliminary findings identify two main patterns. First, early Chinese gaming magazines imitated overseas publications such as Famitsu from Japan and Game Station and Game Weekly from Hong Kong, with Ultra Console Game (UCG) cited as a close parallel in scoring systems, layout, and editorial conventions. Second, the exclusion of foreign companies left editors without direct access to news sources or advertising revenue, so many had to purchase overseas magazines and translate their contents for domestic readers. Several interviewees described themselves as "the porters of overseas media," and one former editor-in-chief recalled that securing an advertisement from PlayStation was a distant aspiration.

The author concludes that state policies and discourse have shaped the local gaming ecosystem by making indigenous content production difficult and by sustaining a financially precarious media sector during its formative years in the 2000s. The paper presents these conclusions as partial, noting that the evidence reflects early-stage interviews and that further fieldwork may reveal a more complex picture of these workers' motivations and dedication to foreign games and consoles.