After China finally ended the complete ban on the production, import, and sales of video game consoles, in effect from 2000 to 2015, its doors were opened to the official release of Nintendo titles. Although the Switch itself would be subject to several alterations in the country to effectively region-lock the console, gamers in China can now enjoy the first official Pokémon release since the ban was enacted in the year 2000: New Pokémon Snap . As reported by Chinese Nintendo (thanks, Nintendo Everything ), the game was launched on 16th July 2024, with Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee also in the pipeline.
That said, iconography within the games has been subject to some minor changes, which Chinese Nintendo hypothesizes may be due to some similarities to the Taiwan or Kuomintang Emblems. In addition to the aforementioned Pokémon titles, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury , and Immortals Fenyx Rising are all currently being prepared for release in China. During the ban, Nintendo had teamed up with Chinese firm Wei Yen to found iQue, a localisation development team that would go on to release the iQue Player in China, a dedicated machine that would allow Nintendo to both bypass the ban and curb piracy within the region.
It only contained a handful of games, but iQue would go on to support Nintendo's handheld division with the likes of the iQue DSi and iQue 3DS XL. iQue products have since been discontinued, with .