China has made a landmark decision in the gaming industry by approving SHRAPNEL, a AAA first-person shooter developed by Neon Machine, as the first foreign Web3 game licensed on the country’s Trusted Copyright Chain. This approval allows SHRAPNEL to legally operate in China, ensuring compliance with digital copyright regulations and enabling secure trading of in-game assets, including characters and props.
SHRAPNEL will integrate with China’s RWA Trusted Copyright Chain, a government-backed blockchain platform designed to authenticate digital copyrights and facilitate compliant asset trading.
This integration ensures that all in-game assets—such as weapons, skins, and characters—are legally recognized and securely stored on-chain, preventing unauthorized duplication or piracy. The move is expected to unlock access to China’s $10 billion gaming market, providing a regulated pathway for Web3 gaming projects.
Beijing Copyright Association Seminar & Government Backing
The approval follows SHRAPNEL’s participation in the “Web3.0 Games and International Digital Copyright Cooperation” seminar, hosted by the Beijing Copyright Association. The event brought together industry leaders and government officials to discuss digital copyright management and international cooperation. SHRAPNEL’s team outlined its compliance strategy, emphasizing its commitment to legal asset issuance and cross-border digital rights collaboration.
SHRAPNEL’s entry into China is backed by Lingjing People’s Game Labs, a digital content platform under People’s Daily, China’s state-run newspaper. Lingjing Labs specializes in digital asset transformation, cultural certification, and gaming industry monitoring. The partnership will focus on compliant issuance, localization, and trading of SHRAPNEL’s digital assets, ensuring alignment with China’s regulatory frameworks.
This approval signals China’s cautious but growing acceptance of blockchain gaming, despite ongoing restrictions on cryptocurrencies. By integrating SHRAPNEL into its national blockchain infrastructure, China is testing the waters for broader adoption of Web3 gaming models. The move could pave the way for future international projects, setting a precedent for decentralized gaming models in regulated markets
Shogun Lin
