It finally happened. The January 2024 batch of Chinese game licenses was officially released, and 来古弥新 (now rebranded as 物华弥新) made the cut — sending long-suffering fans into absolute meltdown.
For context, 来古弥新's license application dates back to 2021. One commenter said it felt like it had been 'stuck for about a year,' only to get instantly corrected by someone more in the know: 'Not just a year — it's been stuck since 2021.' That's roughly three years in regulatory limbo, enough time for a newbie to become a veteran in most gacha games.
The comment section delivered peak emotional damage. One player caps-locked their way through the moment: '来古 finally got its license aaaaah I've been waiting 800 YEARS for you,' complete with a classic meme reaction image. Another simply declared: 'I want to play 来古弥新 RIGHT NOW.' And then there was the sardonic wit: 'So 来古弥新 is finally evolving from a seasonal calendar reminder into an actual game?' — a jab at how the game had been surviving on holiday events and nothing else during its years-long wait.
Not everyone was celebrating, though. Some players were decidedly unimpressed: 'Another license batch with zero heavyweight titles.' Others questioned whether 来古弥新 can even compete in the current market: 'That tactical RPG gameplay and chibi-style characters feel so outdated — who's actually going to play this?' Supporters hit back: 'Sell the art. There was already a kid-voiced character that went viral. Lean into the story and cater to character simps and you can't go wrong.'
Also notable in this batch was 侠客风云传前传 (Xia Ke Feng Yun Zhuan: Prelude), which caught some off guard — 'Wait, this game STILL hadn't gotten approved?' Others raised questions about whether the game would continue paying licensing fees to 智冠 (Interserv), hinting at potential IP rights disputes.
But the real surprise drama came from an unexpected tangent about Honkai: Star Rail's missing Chinese PS5 port. Someone asked: 'Does Star Rail need a separate license to launch on PS China? Genshin got on PS China ages ago, but Star Rail is nowhere to be seen.' This opened a can of worms about China's obscure 'platform expansion' (增端) approval process — a mechanism most players outside China have never heard of. One well-informed commenter explained: 'You have to apply for a platform expansion, which is basically the same as applying for a brand-new license.' Even worse: 'The annual quota is even smaller. The first batch of platform changes this year had only 10 expansions, one of which I know took almost two years to get approved.'
When someone argued that 'if PS China were profitable, Sony would've helped push it through — Genshin got on PS China way faster than Star Rail,' another insider shut it down with a key detail: 'When Genshin applied, the platform expansion process didn't even exist yet. They applied directly for a PS4 license under the old system, which had way more slots.' In other words, Genshin caught the last train, and Star Rail walked straight into a wall of tightened regulations.
This January license batch was a cocktail of emotions: jubilant fans celebrating the end of a three-year wait, skeptics questioning whether the game can still deliver in 2024, and an accidental deep-dive into the rarely-discussed 'platform expansion' bottleneck that explains why Chinese PS gamers keep getting left behind. Whether 来古弥新 can prove the doubters wrong at launch, and when Star Rail will finally hit PS China — well, those are questions only time (and the regulators) can answer.
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