Economy

What makes Chinese games popular overseas

2026-03-31   

The latest data shows that by 2025, the overseas sales revenue of independently developed games in China will exceed 20.4 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.23%. This is the sixth consecutive year that China's overseas gaming market revenue has exceeded 100 billion yuan. With the rapid development of digital technology and cultural industries, China's gaming industry is accelerating its entry into overseas markets, and its influence in the global digital content industry is gradually increasing. The continuous growth of overseas market revenue indicates that China's gaming industry is entering a new stage of development. More and more domestic games are entering the top of download and revenue charts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and even Europe and America markets. Chinese game companies are gradually shifting from single product output to global operation. Black Myth: Wukong has attracted widespread attention overseas, and the mobile version of Delta Action has gained over 10 million registered users in just 4 days of its global launch. The excellent performance of these products not only reflects the improvement of Chinese enterprises' game research and operation capabilities, but also reflects the increasingly mature digital content industry system in China. The expansion of the digital content industry cannot be separated from technological progress and the continuous accumulation of industrial foundations. With the development of mobile Internet, domestic enterprises have accumulated rich experience in game R&D and operation. The application of technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing continuously improves game development efficiency and product quality. Some cities are also accelerating the layout process of the gaming industry. For example, relying on the digital industry foundation of Zhangjiang, Shanghai has gathered a group of game research and development enterprises and technical service institutions, gradually forming a relatively complete industrial ecosystem from research and development to distribution, providing more stable support for domestic games to enter overseas markets. From a global perspective, the development paths of major gaming industry countries have their own focuses. The United States relies on a mature content industry system and continuously extends to fields such as film and animation based on game development, enabling game IPs to form linkages between different industries and create greater commercial value. South Korea has leveraged the rapid development of the esports industry to drive industry expansion through event operations and policy support. Although each path has its own emphasis, it confirms that international competition in the gaming industry is often built on a complete industry ecosystem rather than the competitiveness of a single product. Although China's gaming industry started late, its achievements in recent years have been remarkable. The products represented by Genshin Impact, King Glory, etc. have continuously accumulated a user base in overseas markets, and a number of enterprises have gradually become capable of global operation. More and more works incorporate Chinese history, mythology, and traditional art elements into product design, gradually forming a recognizable cultural expression in the international market. In terms of industrial support, many places provide strong support for enterprises to go global. Taking Chengdu as an example, a series of "policy packages" have been launched around the digital cultural and creative industry, attracting game companies to gather and develop, providing support for their expansion into international markets. Next, we should continue to make efforts in the industrial environment and market capabilities to attract more overseas fans. Improve policies related to digital trade and cultural exports, strengthen institutional support for overseas distribution services, intellectual property protection, and other aspects to reduce cross-border operating costs for enterprises. In terms of market, a group of enterprises have established regional operation centers in Singapore, Tokyo, Los Angeles and other places, focusing on localized distribution, community operation and user service layout. Tencent, Lilith and other companies have gradually improved their global distribution networks by establishing overseas distribution platforms and cooperation channels. At the content level, continuously improving original ability remains the key to industry development. Encourage enterprises to deeply explore China's historical and cultural resources, conduct more explorations in theme selection, narrative methods, and visual expression, and accelerate the formation of a more distinctive brand image for domestic games in the global market by creating original IPs with sustained influence. Promote cross-border cooperation between gaming, film and television, literature, animation and other cultural industries, extend the industry chain through IP full industry chain development and cross media operation, and enhance the overall value of the digital content industry. Technical capability is an important foundation for international competition in the gaming industry. Game development is accelerating towards industrialization and refinement, with many companies continuously achieving breakthroughs in key technological aspects such as large-scale scene modeling, real-time light and shadow rendering, physical simulation, and character animation driving. The technical level of these links directly determines the core quality of game products and the immersive user experience. Around the relevant core technologies, it is necessary to increase the research and development efforts of underlying technologies such as game engines and graphics rendering, improve research and development efficiency and product quality, and build technical support for domestic games to participate in global competition. (New Society)

Edit:He Chuanning Responsible editor:Su Suiyue

Source:ECONOMIC DAILY

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