Gamma Data: In 2024, China's self-developed games' actual overseas sales revenue increased by 13.39% year-on-year to $18.57 billion.

Recently, Gamma Data (CNG) officially released the "2024 China Game Overseas Research Report" jointly compiled with the Game Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association. It pointed out that in 2024, the global game market size was 1,216.335 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.31%. In 2024, the actual overseas sales revenue of Chinese independently developed games increased by 13.39% to 18.557 billion U.S. dollars. The top five countries in the percentage of China Mobile Limited's gaming overseas revenue are the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The global game market size reaches 1,216.335 billion yuan but the growth rate of mobile games is slowing down In 2024, the global game market size was 1,216.335 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.31%. The market continues to warm up, showing positive trends. For example, cross-platform games have emerged, further promoting market expansion and enriching industry revenue sources. However, attention should also be paid to challenges brought to the gaming industry by factors such as social unrest and inflation. Mobile games continue to dominate the domestic market as new products drive explosive growth in the Chinese console game market In 2024, mobile games accounted for 73.12% of total revenue in the Chinese game market, with other games showing a significant increase in share, mainly due to the excellent performance of new stand-alone/console games bringing significant increments to the market. The actual sales revenue of the Chinese console game market in 2024 was 4.488 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.13%. The explosive growth of the console game market is mainly due to the success of "Black Myth: Wukong", which has boosted the enthusiasm of the entire console game market. The Chinese game industry will further integrate with the global game industry and have opportunities in more segmented fields. China's console game market actual sales revenue status The situation of China's gaming overseas market Chinese independently developed games in the overseas market have seen a significant increase in actual sales revenue after two consecutive years of decline In 2024, the actual sales revenue of Chinese independently developed games in the overseas market was 18.557 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13.39%. Chinese game companies, in the process of going global, have continuously improved their core competitiveness, leading to a significant increase in revenue from self-developed games after two consecutive years of decline. Actual sales revenue of Chinese independently developed games in the overseas market In 2024, China Mobile Limited's gaming overseas revenue accounted for the top five countries, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Among them, the markets of the United States, Japan, and South Korea ranked top three, reaching 31.06%, 17.32%, and 8.89% respectively. At the same time, China's continuous strengthening of its expansion into other markets has achieved certain results, such as Saudi Arabia entering the top 10 regions for China's overseas revenue. Composition of China's gaming overseas revenue in 2024 In 2024, China's mobile games performed well in major overseas markets. In particular, the gaming markets of the United Kingdom and the United States saw a shift from negative to positive revenue growth, while the markets of Japan and South Korea saw growth driven by new products, and the negative growth trend in the German market also showed some improvement. Main market growth of China's gaming overseas revenue in 2024 China's gaming overseas competitiveness is steadily increasing in important overseas mobile gaming markets In 2024, among the top 100 products in the top five important overseas mobile gaming markets worldwide, the number of Chinese publishers has generally stabilized, indicating that Chinese game companies have accumulated rich experience in research and operation in the relevant regions. However, top companies in mature markets are finding it difficult to achieve substantial growth when going global. Number of Chinese mobile game publishers in the top 100 products in major overseas mobile gaming markets in the world In 2024, the number of domestic games entering the top 100 products in major overseas mobile gaming markets showed an increase, indicating that existing Chinese game companies have an increasingly better understanding of local market characteristics and are able to consistently launch products that meet local user demands, ensuring a continuous increase in the number of top products in the Chinese gaming market. Number of Chinese mobile game products in the top 100 products in major overseas mobile gaming markets Situation of key mobile gaming markets going global The global game market has a high degree of differentiation. The "Report" analyzes seven key overseas markets: the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, with the examples of the United States, Europe, and Japan markets providing a case study. United States The revenue of the mobile gaming market in the United States is mainly supported by three types of games: gambling, elimination, and strategy (including SLG). In 2024, these three types of games provided 69% of the revenue in the U.S. mobile gaming market. In terms of product quantity, the number of products in the top 100 U.S. mobile gaming market revenue was the highest for gambling, elimination, and strategy (incluDistribution of quantities for each type of P100 productJapan In 2024, in the Japanese mobile gaming market, role-playing games show a strong top effect, with a single genre generating over 45% of revenue. In addition, puzzle games and strategy games (including SLG) rank second and third in terms of revenue share, with Chinese strategy games also occupying a place. In terms of quantity distribution, role-playing games, strategy games (including SLG), and puzzle games are also in the top 3. The competition in the Japanese role-playing market is relatively high, with average revenue per product for placement games, sports games, and card games higher than for role-playing games, indicating strong development potential. Distribution of revenue for the top 100 products in the Japanese mobile gaming market by type Distribution of quantity for the top 100 products in the Japanese mobile gaming market by type Survey of Chinese game developers going overseas Team layouts generally focus on neighboring regions, with great potential for exploration in emerging markets. In the survey of game developers, the distribution of overseas business in the project teams where respondents are involved is still mainly in South Korea, Japan, and Greater China, especially in small teams where there is a stronger desire to expand in neighboring regions. Some areas have significant gaps and require more resources for market research and user behavior analysis. Which markets are the main focus for the overseas game business of your project team? Game enterprises generally strengthen their overseas layout through extensive external cooperation. Establishing headquarters or subsidiaries overseas helps game enterprises expand their markets, acquire resources, and strengthen their overseas layout. The surveyed industry practitioners believe that enhancing communication and cooperation with local companies, improving the efficiency of fund circulation, and enhancing product development capabilities are all important considerations. In recent years, what are the main purposes observed for game companies establishing headquarters or subsidiaries overseas? In terms of external business cooperation, it is common for surveyed industry practitioners' teams to collaborate with external companies, with more than 90% of teams engaging in 3 or more key collaborations. (Note: Key collaborations include distribution partnerships, traffic platform partnerships, cloud service partnerships, payment partnerships, market research partnerships, data service partnerships, and game user service partnerships.) Distribution of the number of external collaborations conducted by companies From the survey, there is a strong demand from game companies going overseas for more external support in areas such as marketing, product operations, and copyright partnerships. From specific business perspectives, which areas does your project team need more external support for going overseas? From a specific business standpoint, distribution partnerships, game customer service, and payment partnerships are among the top three collaboration areas for game overseas teams. While there are currently fewer market research collaborations, they are the most desired type of service for small and medium-sized teams. Additionally, the demand for cloud services, data services, and traffic platform partnerships is also growing. How has the collaboration situation been for your team with external companies in the following related business areas? Chinese game overseas teams face many challenges at both macro and micro levels The Chinese game industry still faces many challenges, with macro factors being of particular concern for small and medium-sized teams, as the unstable macro environment and complex and constantly changing regional markets may hinder their overseas business. In your observation, what are the main challenges faced by game enterprises in developing overseas businesses at present? At the micro level, customer acquisition challenges still exist. Factors such as intensified competition in emerging markets, solidified overseas customer traffic channels, increased competition for traffic among competitors, and the difficulty of innovating marketing strategies are all factors that more than half of the respondents believe are significant contributors to the pressure of acquiring customers overseas. What do you think are the main customer acquisition pressures faced by Chinese game enterprises overseas? There is still room for growth in game overseas expansion, with Chinese cultural characteristics potentially becoming an advantage In the survey of industry practitioners, over 90% of respondents believe that game overseas expansion is a focus for their project teams at a strategic level. Regarding the future development of Chinese game overseas expansion, 65.38% of respondents believe that as global product quality improves, the overall level of user expectations for games will increase. In addition, with policy encouragement, hardware upgrades, and an improved industry chain, there is still considerable room for growth in game overseas expansion. Additionally, nearly 70% of surveyed industry practitioners believe that "unique Chinese culture" is a competitive advantage for Chinese game overseas expansion. Which of the following viewpoints on game overseas expansion do you agree with? In your opinion, what are the competitive advantages of Chinese enterprises in overseas game development? Technological innovation is expected to help leverage opportunities for game overseas expansion in various niche areas Technological innovation is a core element for the future development of the game industry, with nearly 60% of industry practitioners believing that the introduction and application of emerging technologies will have a significant impact on game overseas expansion. Technological progress is expected to leverage opportunities for game overseas expansion in various niche areas, such as with the improvement of technology, single-player games, console games, and other specialized directions are expected to continue to expand, driving a new round of growth. Which of the following trends do you think will have a significant impact on game overseas expansion? In your opinion, what are some niche areas where Chinese game overseas development can continue to expand? Insight into the trends of Chinese game overseas expansion Mobile game overseas layout is changing, with light game overseas becoming a new opportunity As the global game landscape changes, light mobile games have become a key focus. Currently, many game companies, such as 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group, 4399, QINGCI GAMES, and DotA Interactive (Century Wonders), have already entered the market and expanded their product advantages to overseas markets. With light games becoming a new opportunity for game overseas expansion, competition will intensify in the future, and Chinese game enterprises will need to better understand the cultural backgrounds and player preferences in their target markets, prioritize localized operations, to achieve long-term development. China is expected to build a 3A game industry chain, with factors such as technological progress and global cost advantages being crucial In 2024, the Chinese game industry is further focusing on 3A games, especially the success of "Black Myth: Wukong" on a global scale, which paves a feasible path for Chinese development of 3A games. It is noteworthy that there are currently two important opportunities for China to build a 3A game industry chain. On one hand, technological innovation is becoming a key driver for the development of the 3A game industry in China.Key Strengths. On the other hand, China has a cost advantage in developing 3A games. However, it is important to note that the complete 3A game industry chain still requires continuous industry support and research and development accumulation.The importance of user community continues to rise, and game platforms outside of games have become important battlegrounds for game overseas operations. The game community ecosystem is crucial for increasing user stickiness, enhancing user retention, improving user activity, promoting word-of-mouth communication among users, and expanding the size of user groups. Especially in the process of game overseas operations, global game platforms outside the game can better meet player demands, connect player communities, and continuously improve user conversion rates and retention rates. However, research shows that direct advertising to acquire traffic is still the main way to acquire customers. In the current era where the traffic dividend is at its peak, overseas game companies are facing challenges such as rising user acquisition costs, solidifying overseas traffic channels, intensifying competition for traffic among competitors, and the need to address marketing strategy changes and creative material production. It is becoming increasingly inevitable to shift from simply buying traffic to community content marketing. Which of the following methods is mainly used by your team to market and promote overseas games? At present, there are difficulties in transforming enterprise community content marketing. From the perspective of marketing effectiveness, direct advertising campaigns are still considered the most effective way by enterprises, while content marketing is at the bottom. The main reason is that enterprises still lack a mature methodology in content marketing, and content marketing requires enterprises to have a deep understanding of users and establish a certain level of content influence in order to achieve better results. Which of the following ways is most effective in acquiring traffic during your company's marketing promotions process? The booming development of the global esports industry is expected to spark new momentum for esports overseas. Esports has become an important sector for game overseas operations. With the booming development of the global esports industry, many countries and organizations are actively entering the esports field. Currently, international exchanges and cooperation in the esports industry are increasing, and the Chinese esports industry is gradually becoming standardized, mainstreamed, and internationalized, occupying an increasingly important position in the global game overseas landscape.