Published: Aug. 1, 2025  4:23 a.m.  GMT+8
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An advertisement for the Black Myth: Wukong game at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Sept. 3, 2024.
China’s gaming industry surged in the first half of 2025, posting its fastest growth in five years, fueled by hit mobile titles, rising e-sports revenues and the continued boom in mini-games.
According to an report released Thursday by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Conference in Shanghai, the domestic gaming market generated 168 billion yuan ($23 billion) in revenue from January to June, up 14.1% year-on-year. The country counted 679 million gamers, a modest 0.7% rise, marking the fourth straight year of user growth below 1%.
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- China’s gaming market generated 168 billion yuan ($23 billion) in H1 2025, up 14.1% year-on-year, with 679 million gamers.
- Mobile games led growth, earning 125.3 billion yuan (74.6% of revenue), while mini-games surged 40.2% to 23.3 billion yuan; console games rebounded nearly 30%.
- Overseas mobile game revenue reached $9.5 billion, up 11.2%, with strategy games comprising 43% of top 100 titles’ revenue abroad.
AI generated, for reference only
- 2021–2023：
- Overseas revenue growth from Chinese-developed games slowed since 2021, with negative growth recorded in 2023.
- 2021–2025：
- The period was marked as the strongest five-year half-year growth for mobile games.
- 2022–2025：
- User growth among gamers remained below 1% for four consecutive years.
- 2023：
- China’s anime-style ‘second dimension’ game segment saw a 24% rise in revenue.
- 2024：
- China’s anime-style ‘second dimension’ game segment experienced a 5.4% drop in revenue.
- First half of 2024：
- Console game revenue in the first half of 2025 increased by nearly 30% compared to this period.
- January to June 2025：
- China’s domestic gaming market generated 168 billion yuan in revenue, up 14.1% year-on-year; mobile games generated 125.3 billion yuan (up 16.6%); client-based PC games generated 35.4 billion yuan (up 4.9%); web-based games fell to 2.2 billion yuan (down 5.9%); console games reached 1.03 billion yuan (up nearly 30% yoy); mini-games generated 23.3 billion yuan (up 40.2%); advertising revenue from mini-games hit 7.97 billion yuan (up 34.3%); casual games generated 16.4 billion yuan; e-sports games generated 80.6 billion yuan (up 16.6%); Chinese-developed mobile games earned $9.5 billion overseas (up 11.2%).
- By the first half of 2025：
- The United States, Japan, and South Korea remain the top markets for Chinese-developed mobile games, contributing 32%, 16%, and 7.5% of revenue, respectively.
- July 31, 2025：
- A report on China’s gaming industry for the first half of 2025 was released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Conference in Shanghai.
AI generated, for reference only
