What you’ll learn from this report:

A detailed analysis of youth gamer demographics, behavior, preferences, and spending; and the growth drivers and trends that will impact the youth market in China.

New regulations introduced in September 2021 further restricted the amount of time that youth gamers in China could play video games. This report shows who China’s youth gamers are, what they do with their time, what priorities they have, and what impact the regulations have had on their gaming behavior. In our most robust report to date, the findings will shine a light on China’s youth gamers so that you can build your strategy to include them in your current and future total available market.

Key takeaways from the analysis:

• The NPPA further strengthened anti-addiction regulations and reduced the amount of time that minors can play online video games from September 1, 2021. The new rules stated that people under 18 years old will be allowed to play only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, for one hour per day between 8pm and 9pm. This limits minors to 3 hours per week
• Gaming penetration peaked in 2020 with 60% of Chinese youth playing games (vs 52% of the overall population)
• After the 3-hour regulation was implemented, the percentage of youth gamers dropped to 40% (vs 49% of the overall population)
• We forecast a return to near peak levels by 2026 with 56% of the youth population playing games (compared to 51% of general population)
• 77% of Chinese youth play fewer hours per week as a direct result of the regulation
• 54% of youth gamers now only play within the approved hours set by the government as a result of the 3-hour regulation
• 54% of primary school students play video games, compared to 72% of junior high school students and 62% of senior high school students. The decline for senior high school students can be attributed to higher studying hours and less leisure time compared to other students
• 86% of youth gamers play on mobile, 30% play on PC and 6% play on console
• While we expect the esports talent pipeline to be negatively impacted, games with an esports component continue to remain the most played among youth and the older a child gets, the more likely they are to be interested in esports