The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), mainland China’s regulator in charge of game approvals, issued ISBNs for 127 domestic games and 7 import games on July 21, 2025. This is the seventh batch of games approved in 2025, taking total approvals to 884 domestic games and 62 import games.
The domestic games batch included 116 mobile games, 1 PC game, and 10 cross-platform games. The import game batch included 4 mobile games, 2 PC games, and 1 cross-platform game. There were also 9 games included on the ISBN change list where games are able to change their name, publisher, or add new platforms.
Total video game approvals in mainland China for the first 7 months of 2025 have reached 946, up 19.3% YoY. We currently project more than 1,600 video games will be approved in 2025, with over 100 of them being import games.
A number of notable import games were approved in this batch including The Finals from Nexon, which will be published by Tencent, as well as Diablo IV from Blizzard and Marvel Mystic Mayhem from Marvel and NetEase, with both set to be published by NetEase in China.
A key domestic game approved this month is Kingshot from Century Games. The medieval-themed idle strategy game has already surpassed $100 million in gross player spending worldwide just 117 days after its global launch on February 24, 2025. Built by the same team behind Whiteout Survival, which has grossed nearly $3 billion since 2022, Kingshot is now set to launch domestically, given the recent approval, and it is a game to watch.
The regulatory environment continues to improve in China, with the NPPA taking a more frequent and open approach to game approvals. Stay up to date to China video games market as they happen with our China Games Research:
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