Gamma Data: The actual sales revenue of the domestic gaming market in 2024 is 3257.83 billion yuan, an increase of 7.53% year-on-year.

On December 13th, 2024, the annual China Game Industry Conference was held at the Shougang International Exhibition Center (Sihao Furnace) in Beijing. Zhang Yijun, the vice chairman of the China Audio-Visual and Digital Publishing Association and director of the China Audio-Visual and Digital Publishing Association Game Committee, released the "2024 China Game Industry Report" at the conference. In 2024, the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market was 325.783 billion yuan, an increase of 7.53% year-on-year, reaching a new high. The number of game users reached 674 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.94%, also reaching a historical high. The main reasons for the simultaneous growth and new highs in market revenue and user base are: an increase in the number of new games, including hit titles; stable operation of multiple evergreen products; impressive performance of small games with strong growth momentum; and multi-platform distribution and cloud gaming making user consumption more convenient. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Domestically developed games in China see slowing revenue growth In 2024, the actual sales revenue of domestically developed games in the Chinese market was 260.736 billion yuan, an increase of 1.70% year-on-year, indicating a slowing growth rate. This is mainly due to intensified market competition and the continuous rise in R&D and customer acquisition costs. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Overseas self-developed game revenue exceeds one hundred billion RMB for five consecutive years In 2024, the actual sales revenue of self-developed games in the overseas market reached 18.557 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 13.39%, exceeding one hundred billion RMB for five consecutive years and reaching a new high. Faced with a global gaming market slowdown and increasingly fierce competition in the international environment, Chinese game companies have actively responded, showing outstanding performance. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The US, Japan, and South Korea account for 57.27%, slightly down year-on-year. In 2024, in the distribution of actual sales revenue of self-developed mobile games in overseas markets, the United States accounted for 31.06%, Japan accounted for 17.32%, and South Korea accounted for 8.89%. These three countries are still the main overseas target markets, with a combined share of 57.27%, slightly down from the previous year. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Strategy, shooting, and role-playing games in the top three In the top 100 self-developed mobile games in terms of revenue in the overseas market, strategy games account for 41.38%, shooting games account for 10.40%, and role-playing games account for 10.37%. These three types of products have remained in the top three for five consecutive years. It is important to note that the role-playing category has seen a significant decline of 5.60%. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Significant increase in market share for other markets in the segmented market. In the segmented market, the actual sales revenue share of mobile games is 73.12%, maintaining its dominant position; client games account for 20.87% of actual sales revenue; web game market accounts for 1.42% of actual sales revenue. Due to the emergence of phenomenal products this year, the market share of games outside the above three categories has increased significantly from 1.67% last year to 4.59% this year. As a result, the market share of mobile, client, and web games has all decreased compared to last year. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Mobile game revenue reaches 238.217 billion yuan, up 5.01% In 2024, the actual sales revenue of the China Mobile Limited gaming market was 238.217 billion yuan, an increase of 5.01%, setting a new market revenue record. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Role-playing games account for the highest proportion in the top 100 mobile games by revenue, while multiplayer online tactical sports games account for the highest proportion of revenue. In terms of quantity, in 2024, role-playing games accounted for 24% of the top 100 mobile games in terms of revenue, a 7% decrease from the previous year. Card games ranked second, accounting for 12% of the total, rising by one position compared to last year. Strategy and chess games each accounted for 8%. It is noteworthy that the shooting games, which ranked fourth in share last year, fell significantly to seventh place this year. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) In terms of revenue, the top 100 mobile games in terms of revenue in 2024 were mostly multiplayer online tactical sports games, accounting for 17.99%, followed by role-playing games at 17.89%, and shooting games at 13.89%. The three types together accounted for 49.73% of total revenue. Role-playing games saw an 11.7% decrease in share compared to last year. Meanwhile, the emergence of new action games has boosted the revenue of action games this year. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Client game market revenue reaches 67.981 billion yuan, up 2.56% year-on-year. In 2024, the actual sales revenue of the client game market in China was 67.981 billion yuan, an increase of 2.56% year-on-year. This was mainly due to the stable performance of top-performing evergreen games and the simultaneous release of multiple new mobile games on the PC platform. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Web game market revenue down 2.35% year-on-year, declining for the ninth consecutive year.The overall scale is 4.638 billion yuan, marking the ninth consecutive year of decline.Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The console game market revenue was 44.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.13% In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China's console game market was 44.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.13%. The significant expansion of the console game market is mainly due to the outstanding performance of phenomenon-level new products. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The revenue of the esports game market was 1429.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.52% In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China's esports game market was 1429.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.52%. This is mainly attributed to the long-term operation of top esports games, which consolidated the foundation of the esports market. The launch of new esports games in different categories also created a substantial market increment. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The revenue of the second-dimensional mobile game market was 298.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.44% In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China's second-dimensional mobile game market was 293.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.44%. This was mainly influenced by three factors: the outstanding performance of this category in the previous year overshadowed the performance this year, intensified market competition leading to a struggle for limited player market share, and a weakening in player consumption willingness. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The revenue of the casual mobile game market was 312.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.78% In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China's domestic casual mobile game market was 312.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.78%. This has been a continuous decline for three years, with factors such as a decrease in the number of new products contributing to the ongoing decrease in sales revenue. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) The revenue of the mini program game market was 398.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99.18% In 2024, the revenue of China's mini program game market was 398.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99.18%, still in a period of rapid growth. Among this, the actual sales revenue generated from in-game purchases was 273.64 billion yuan, accounting for 68.7%; advertising revenue was 124.72 billion yuan, accounting for 31.3%. Data source: China Game Industry Research Expert Committee & Gamma Data (CNG) Conclusion In 2024, China's gaming industry continued to make progress in terms of compliance, boutique development, technological innovation, and cultural construction. Future trends are likely to include: policy support and improving public opinion environment, industry-academia-research cooperation to assist in high-quality industry development; intensified competition in the stock market, leading to long-term challenges in rising costs and talent supply for companies; mobile games maintaining dominance, trends towards multi-platform distribution and annual hit single-player games driving growth in the console and single-player markets; a trend towards both heavy and light product content; domestic and international markets forming a mutual influence and penetration; and a move towards full-scale expansion of the industry chain on top of product globalization, especially in promoting cultural exports.