Chinese studios are trying to build premium global franchises
China's games industry is known for free-to-play mobile games, while big-budget games bought up front came mostly from Japan, the US and Europe. Chinese studios now make them too. Studios say rising costs are the first real limit on that growth.
What is original IP?
Original IP means a game built on characters and a world the studio created and owns itself, rather than one based on a movie, comic, or another company's property. AAA is the industry's informal term for its biggest-budget games, the ones made by hundreds of people over several years.
Latest figure · First half of 2026 so far
-7.1%
The first half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025, not a full year: console game revenue fell 7.06%, which the report puts down to Black Myth: Wukong's sales fading. The half-year report counts under 1 billion yuan, far less than half of 2025's 8.36 billion, so the two reports may not measure the market the same way.
Where it stands
Black Myth: Wukong, a 2024 action game based on a Chinese legend, proved a Chinese studio could make a global big-budget hit. Its developer, Game Science, is following it with Black Myth: Zhong Kui, built on a different figure from Chinese folklore. S-GAME, Everstone (working with NetEase) and miHoYo are building original worlds of their own. Everstone's Where Winds Meet reached a worldwide audience in late 2025, though as a free-to-play game. Games are now part of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, its national economic roadmap. For games sold up front, the evidence so far is one franchise. China's console market grew 55% in 2024 and 86% in 2025, to 8.36 billion yuan, on the official industry report's count, then fell 7% in the first half of 2026 as Wukong's sales faded.
China's console market nearly tripled in two years on one game, Black Myth: Wukong, then shrank in the first half of 2026 as its sales faded.
*The first half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025, not a full year: console game revenue fell 7.06%, which the report puts down to Black Myth: Wukong's sales fading. The half-year report counts under 1 billion yuan, far less than half of 2025's 8.36 billion, so the two reports may not measure the market the same way.
SourceGPC, China Game Industry Report
| Year | Change in China's console game revenue, % on a year earlier |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 55.1% |
| 2025 | 86.3% |
| First half of 2026* | -7.1% |
Timeline
2022
Exports and the home market both fall
China's game exports fell for the first time in the series, down 3.70% to $17.35 billion, in the same year the domestic market fell 10.33%, its first decline in eight years.
2024
Wukong sells 10 million in three days
Black Myth: Wukong sold 10 million copies in three days and passed 20 million within weeks. Xinhua and People's Daily praised it as a cultural triumph, and some policymakers called it China's K-pop moment.
Exports up 13%, and a console market stirs
The GPC's 2024 report put overseas revenue at $18.56 billion, up 13.39%, and China's console market up 55.13% on a breakout title.
2025
Zhong Kui, not a Wukong sequel
Game Science revealed Black Myth: Zhong Kui at Gamescom as the second Black Myth title, a new story and not a Wukong sequel. Platform estimates put Wukong at around 28 million copies and $1.25 billion in 2024.
Exports past $20 billion
The GPC's 2025 report put overseas revenue at $20.46 billion, up 10.23%, and China's console market up 86.33%.
NetEase's Where Winds Meet launches worldwide, free to play
Where Winds Meet, a martial-arts adventure by the NetEase studio Everstone, launches worldwide on PC and PlayStation 5 on 14 November 2025 and passes 15 million players in a month. It is free to play, so it shows reach abroad more than a market for games bought up front.
2026
Giants chase prestige, the rest chase profit
KrASIA described the industry splitting. Market leaders chase the prestige of big-budget games at $200 to $400 million a title, while mid-sized studios defend profitable genres with proven mechanics.
First-half exports up 30%
The GPC's first-half report put overseas revenue at $12.37 billion, up 30.22%, the fastest growth in the series.
GPC, China Game Industry Report for January to June 2026, via China News Service (30 July 2026)
China's console market shrinks as Wukong fades
The official industry report for the first half of 2026 has China's console game revenue down 7.06% on a year earlier, and puts the fall down to Black Myth: Wukong's sales fading. One game had been carrying the market.
Xinhua, on the GPC report for January to June 2026 (31 July 2026)
Zhong Kui shows gameplay, still without a date
Game Science showed fifteen minutes of Zhong Kui gameplay from an early build, two years after Wukong, with no release date announced.
Consequences
012024
Games become soft power, officially
Xinhua wrote that Wukong had carried the essence of the national cultural spirit abroad, People's Daily said developers should use games to promote the nation's culture, and policymakers called it China's K-pop moment.
022025
A console market is forming at home
Almost from nothing, the GPC has China's console market up 55.13% in 2024 on a breakout title and up 86.33% in 2025, to 8.36 billion yuan.
032026
Prestige and profit are now different strategies
The industry is splitting by ambition. Market leaders pursue the prestige of big-budget games while mid-sized competitors defend profitable segments with proven mechanics. A mobile game such as Legend of Mushroom took nearly $400 million in 2024 on the second path.
Objections
Counterpoint2026
Prestige may not pay
Development costs for the biggest games have surged to $200 to $400 million, which makes a profit hard to reach. KrASIA gives that as the reason most Chinese studios are not following Game Science.
Counterpoint2023
The exports are mostly mobile
Sensor Tower's 2023 review had Genshin Impact dominating the overseas revenue of Chinese mobile games, with the top 30 titles taking $7.8 billion on the app stores. Wukong is one console game inside a total led by mobile.
Counterpoint2026
One hit is not a pipeline
Two years after Wukong, its studio's second game is an early build without a release date. The one other big Chinese game to reach a worldwide audience since, Where Winds Meet, is free to play. No second Chinese game sold up front has yet matched Wukong.
What to watch
2026
The GPC's December tally
December 2026, when the GPC usually publishes its annual report. The figures to look for are the console market's growth and whether overseas revenue holds the first half's 30% pace.
GPC, China Game Industry Report for January to June 2026, via China News Service (30 July 2026)
2026
Phantom Blade Zero, the next test
29 October 2026, the release date S-GAME gives for Phantom Blade Zero on PlayStation 5 and PC. It is the first big Chinese game sold up front since Wukong, and the first test of whether there is a second hit.
Further reading
- Reporting“China’s K-pop moment”: Wukong’s global success sparks government embrace of video games as soft powerrestofworld.org
- AnalysisChina's game makers split as giants chase prestige and others target profitkr-asia.com
- CommunityBlack Myth: Zhong Kui might be the best looking game ever made... Chinese devs are cookingtiktok.com
Where to follow it Rest of World China tech desk, Niko Partners, SCMP tech coverage, Naavik
- Streamers are spreading across several platforms
- Steam's glut is making discovery the hard part
- Governments are paying for games as culture and industry
- Apple and Google are being forced to open their stores
- Game workers are winning union contracts
- Creative workers are fighting over AI consent and disclosure
- Developers are turning against generative AI
- Regulators are forcing child-safety changes on platforms
- India has outlawed games played for money
- EU consumer authorities are going after how games sell currency
- The biggest games companies are taking a growing share of the money
- Saudi state money is buying major games companies
- Publishers are reviving dormant franchises
- Console makers are keeping games exclusive again
- Mobile live events are converging on one playbook
- AI teammates are reaching players in short tests
- Gambling money is moving into games and the platforms around them
- Mobile publishers are moving payments to their own web shops
- Esports is running on Saudi money
- Game subscriptions are stalling
- Investors are abandoning blockchain games
- Handheld gaming PCs are losing momentum