China's Gaming Industry To Surpass $56.7 Billion By 2027

Over the past few years, the gaming industry has seen significant growth globally, and China has played a crucial role in achieving this upward trajectory. With over 710 Million gamers and accounting for the highest global market revenue share in mobile gaming, China has highlighted itself in golden colours. According to the reports on the Chinese Gaming Market published by Niko Partners, the analytics talk about the current numbers and future predictions, which clearly shows China's domination in the global market, especially in the space of mobile gaming.

While China is one of the leading nations in the gaming industry, their numbers aren't stopping here. According to Niko Partners' prediction, China's video game market will surpass $56.7 billion with 734.6 million gamers in 2027. With over 65% of the revenue share coming from the mobile gaming ecosystem, China is one of the biggest nations in terms of mobile gaming.

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China Stands Tall In The Global Video Game Market

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China saw a 2.5% decline in its revenue generation in 2022. Due to the lockdown period, the world's esports ecosystem was heavily affected, and China was no exception. While it seemed difficult to bounce back, the Chinese gaming ecosystem picked up the pace in 2023, and China's video game software and service revenue are expected to be $47.76, up %5.3 YoY. 

Throughout 2023, China saw an increase in the number of new game launches, with NPPA approving 844 domestic and imported video games, adding to the numbers from 2022 and 2021. Additionally, China opted to focus on internal expansion by creating several local studios. After the lockdown period, over 50% of the esports tournament in China was conducted either in person or in a hybrid format, generating a revenue of over $445 million with 400 million fans.

As the year 2023 is coming to an end, China will focus on hitting higher numbers on the graphs. Currently, Tencent and NetEase's revenues account for a combined 61% share for domestic PC and mobile games, and more publishers will look forward to contributing towards the revenue share. 

Since China's ecosystem is flourishing with the help of its mobile gaming environment, let's compare it with another 'mobile first market', India. In India, over 96.8% of gamers play games on smartphones or tablets, making it one of the biggest mobile gaming markets. In 20217, India had 144.9 million video game players, while China had 605.2 million. 

According to the forecasts, by 2027, India will see a jump of 343% and reach a 641.2 million player count, while China's number will increase to 729.5 million. With the return of popular titles like BGMI and Free Fire in India, these numbers might see a further increase. As of 2023, India is home to over 444.4 million gamers, while China's count sits at 689.9 million.