What you’ll learn from this report:

In May 2022 Niko Partners issued our annual China games market size and 5-year forecast for 2020-2026, for PC, mobile and console games market segments. This China Six-month Update report explains our revised market forecast based on the current market and economy, new regulations, realized and projected impact of anticipated games, and current trends in gaming in China.

What’s included:

• A comprehensive market model and 5-year forecast through 2026
• Mobile games market model and trends
• PC games market model and trends
• Console games market model and trends
• Export games market model and trends
• Games market updates including public game companies, icafes, esports and streaming, M&A, and regulations
• 41 slides

Key takeaways from the analysis:

• Niko Partners now projects 2022 mainland China domestic video game software and services revenue will be US$45.44 billion, -2.5% YoY — the first decline in 20 years of Niko tracking the China video games market. The April 2022 forecast was for very low growth
• The decline is due to lower spending on mobile games partially offset by growth across PC and console games. Downward macroeconomic factors, restrictive regulations, a lack of new licenses, and underperformance of newly launched titles fed the decline
• Mobile games are roughly 66% of total games revenue and are now forecast to decline 5.1% YoY in 2022. In addition to the other downward factors, mobile games continue to be impacted by Apple’s ATT policy
• On a bright note, PC games will be up 2.1% YoY, marking a return to growth for the PC games market after 4 consecutive years of decline. PC games are roughly 30% of total revenue and had stable performance with key legacy titles and increased spend on games distributed via unlicensed platforms such as Steam
• Niko did not change the April forecast for Console software and services revenue, including spend on unlicensed games, as a gain of 14.7% YoY
• China will have 701.8 million gamers across all platforms by end of 2022 marking the second year of decline, based on Niko estimates that 39 million youth gamers have stopped playing. New youth gamer regulations introduced in September 2021 are the primary reason behind the decline in gamers, but the impact on revenue is minimal compared to other factors
• 2022 was a year of transition for China’s domestic games market. Niko forecasts China’s domestic games market to have 754.5 gamers and generate over $53.0 billion in 2026, with games revenue 5-year CAGR of 2.6% from 2021-2026