Arguably the biggest growth opportunity for western mobile game-makers is China.
The country boasts a huge population, a booming economy and a mobile-first audience. Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at research firm Niko Partners, has described the region as a “$50bn opportunity” with over 700m people playing games in China.
Despite the high barrier to entry thanks to regulatory concerns and a high level of native competition, Ahmad is confident that international developers can succeed in the region, citing the performance of Nexon’s Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in 2025.
Success is far from guaranteed, however. Analyst and consultant Daniel Camilo says that the first thing that international developers need to consider is whether launching in China is even worth it, given the complexity of the games landscape.
“I’ve seen a lot of studios struggling to make revenue that would justify the localisation and operational costs of the game post-launch,” Camilo explains, pointing out the “extremely convoluted” Android ecosystem in China.
He continues: “Discoverability is a serious struggle for most mobile games, and generally speaking, it’s mostly those with big UA and marketing budgets that make it.”
The other big consideration is the regulatory environment. Developers, both domestic and foreign, are subject to government approval before launching in China, though there is a limited (albeit increasing) number of ISBN licenses available to companies outside of China.
This is largely to do with content approval and ensuring that the game is in line with local laws and sensibilities. International firms already need to partner with local outfits to release in the region, but making the game itself in China can speed up this process.
“There are ways to submit a game through the domestic approval process, which is both faster and has a higher cap, but this often involves a co-development or local development approach,” Ahmad explains.
Outside of content, the other big thing that developers need to think about is data security. “China has very strict data export laws, so setting up a compliant service is a requirement,” Mygamesz chief revenue officer, Thorbjorn Warin, explains. “It’s never a major issue, but always some work.”
On top of changes developers have to make to ensure their games meet local laws, there are other best practices that companies should adopt to increase their chances of success.
“Do not ‘over-localise’ your game,” Warin states. “There is no need to replace characters or force a ‘China re-skin’. The Chinese audience is very familiar with Western-style games so it makes no sense to try to hide it. Embrace your game, characters and narrative, and you will find an audience in China.”
Niko Partners’ Ahmad adds that familiarity is often the name of the game when it comes to launching in China.
“It’s best to enter the market with either a well-known IP or a game that fills a market gap,” he says. “Working with a Chinese partner to hyperlocalize the game is also a must, this means going beyond language support to ensure that the gameplay loop, live service cadence, in-game designs and even marketing plans are aligned with local expectations and tastes.”
With marketing and UA, Warin describes the landscape as “the same, except it’s completely different” – but the Mygamez CRO says that influencer marketing tends to carry more weight in the region, by virtue of the size of the domestic market. Niko’s Ahmad says that the landscape for UA and marketing is “on a different level”, pointing to super apps such as Tencent’s WeChat. Paid acquisition plays a fairly large role depending on the game, he says, and data-driven campaigns need to be “extremely granular”.
Camilo adds that the landscape in China is so wildly different that it is often best to rely entirely on local expertise to promote your game. “Operating marketing campaigns in this landscape requires a profound familiarity with all things China: trends, tech, society, language and so on,” he says.
“That’s why marketing for gaming in China absolutely needs to be executed by Chinese professionals. No matter how proficient and familiar a foreigner is in China, it pales in comparison to native immersion.”
Though China represents a massive opportunity, it is one that needs to be carefully considered; international developers need to be in this for the long haul.
“Take China as a multi-year investment,” Ahmad says. “Understand who you are trying to target early, and work out the best approach to reach and connect with that audience during the development of the game to understand their needs.”
Warin adds: “Launching your game in China should, in most cases, be considered a multi-year strategic endeavour. It needs to be fully anchored and supported throughout the organisation. Make sure to have this in place first.”
