China's ban on video game consoles is lifting, meaning Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will be able to bring their hardware to China.

Approximately 15 years ago, China banned the sale of video game consoles, citing a negative affect on children who played video games. As a result, Chinese fans of PC video games were not affected by the ban.

Rumblings of China's intentions to lift the ban began as early as 2013, and in January 2014, the ban was temporarily lifted allowing consoles manufacturers the opportunity to sell consoles, but only with government approval. Early this morning, however, The Wall Street Journal reported that the ban has been completely lifted according to a statement from the country's Ministry of Culture.

[Source: Wall Street Journal, via The Verge, Polygon]

Our Take

This is good news for Chinese video game fans, as well as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, who can now bring their consoles to a new, huge market. The country has been playing PC games exclusively for more than a decade, though, so it might not be eager or interested in changing that. I'm curious to see how Chinese players react to the news and whether they will embrace video game consoles.