Chinese Mobile Games Primed For Global Growth

From the first half of 2017 to the first half of this year, Chinese game makers raised their profits by 52% in the US earning more than US$600m, according to recent data from App Annie.

Downloads of Chinese games in the US iOS App Store and Google Play Store increased by 54% during the same period, with volumes almost reaching 200m.

This follows the general trend of Chinese mobile games hunting for overseas markets as a general domestic slowdown and tighter regulations curb expansion on home turf. According to an earlier report from App Annie published in late July, the first half of 2018 had seen mobile game publishers reaching US$2.6 billion in overseas revenues from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, a 40% year-on-year hike.

Overseas expansion has become a necessity, according to the report, as China experiences a slowdown in domestic mobile game revenues, mainly attributed to market oversaturation and the growing aging population.

Besides slowing domestic demand, China’s State Administration of Radio and Television (SART) has also not granted licenses for new games since this March. Mobile games have been hit the hardest, with year-on-year growth plummeting from 50% to 13%.

As for the US market, Chinese action game apps were some of the most downloaded games. Tencent Games‘ Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) ranked No. 1 in downloads in the US during the first half of the year while NetEase’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day ranked third.

Casual mobile games have also experienced high download rates in the first half of 2018 including Love Balls, Word Crossy, Draw In, Rolling Sky and Dancing Line. Strategic games still dominate the list of games with the highest income. FunPlus’s Gun of Glory and King of Avalon: Dragon Warfare are ranked first and third respectively. IGG’s Lords Mobile is ranked second with another title from the company placing itself at no. 9—Castle Clash.

Two games from Elex – Clash of Kings and Miracle Nikki – placed themselves fourth and fifth respectively. Word Crossy is the only casual game that placed itself in the top 15 according to revenues.