China's video games regulator on Wednesday granted publishing licenses to 129 games for release in the country. 

According to the lists released by the National Press and Publication Administration, 84 are from domestic developers and 45 are from foreign developers.

Five imported games to be published by Tencent, including "Pokémon Unite" by Nintendo and "Valorant" by Riot Games, have been approved.

Other imported games approved include CD Projekt's "Gwent: The Witcher Card Game" and Klei Entertainment's "Don't Starve".

This is the first time foreign titles have been granted a license in 18 months. Beginning last August, Chinese authorities cracked down on the video game industry, suspending the game approval process. In April, the crackdown eased, and homegrown games began to obtain game licenses.

Although this may mean that Chinese authorities are relaxing their stance on imported games, the number of licenses granted is still relatively low when compared to previous years: 76 imported games were given the green light in 2021, and 456 were approved in 2017.

Unlike in most other countries, video games need approval from regulators before release in China.

Chinese mainstream gaming companies, including NetEase, ByteDance, XD, and iDreamSky also received game approvals in December.