John Paul M. Joaquin Games 12.06.2022 21:Dec PM EST

Chinese Online Games Go Offline Dec. 6 for Jiang Zemin’s Memorial Service

China's game industry halted to a standstill on Dec. 6.

All online games in China went offline for the whole of Dec. 6 to pay respects to the memory of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, whose funeral happened that day.

Jiang Zemin's funeral isn't the only time China's game industry went offline, though the more recent ones involved mourning.

China Game Industry One-Day Shutdown Details

China is mourning the passing of Jiang Zemin, its former president, and as such, the Chinese government held a full-day memorial service to remember Jiang Zemin's contributions to the country.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Jiang Zemin reduced the government's ownership and control of China's 300,000 industries, starting a privatization plan in 1997. This plan became one of the contributing factors that turned China from a virtual pariah state into the fastest-growing economy in the world, per the BBC.

Jiang Zemin died of Leukemia and multiple organ failure on Nov. 30, 2022, at the age of 96, per an NPR article citing a report from the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

As such, video game developers in China have elected to go offline for this one day in recognition of the former president's memorial service. This one-day shutdown means that all online video games in China, which include the likes of League of Legends, Honor of King, CrossFire, Naraka: Bladepoint, Identity V and Genshin Impact, will be unplayable for the rest of Dec. 6, per Gamespot.

Additionally, video game market analyst Daniel Ahmad reported on Twitter that video game companies added gray to their profile images on Chinese social media. They also had their websites rendered black and white as a sign of mourning, according to Sports Business Journal.

China's video game industry isn't the only one doing a similar change. Other online and real-world entertainment sites and activities have voluntarily shut down for the rest of Dec. 6 in respect of Jiang Zemin. Gaming live streaming platform DouYu and the League of Legends All-Star Event were shut down and suspended, respectively.

Jiang Zemin's funeral is not the first time China's video game industry willingly shut down for a day. In April 2020, video game companies suspended online multiplayer as part of a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of COVID-19 and the 2013 earthquake in Lushan.

Will Chinese Games Be Available To Play Outside of China?

While the video game industry in China halts to a standstill in memory of Jiang Zemin, the rest of the world can still play their favorite China-based video games despite the companies shutting down on Dec. 6.

This exclusion means that only mainland China servers were shut down in honor of Jang Zemin's funeral on Dec. 6.

As a result, Genshin Impact players can still play it despite its parent company, HoYoverse, has shut down on Dec. 6. However, it is unknown if the release of Genshin Impact's 3.3 update is affected by Jiang Zemin's funeral and memorial services.