2020 was a big growth year with 31% increase in mobile games revenue.
SILICON VALLEY, Calif. – May 27, 2021 – Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm covering video games, esports, and streaming in Asia, today announced the release of two new reports: China Mobile Games Market Report and China PC Games Market Report, including Niko’s proprietary market model and 5-year forecast through 2025.
Key takeaways from the reports include:
- China’s domestic PC game revenue was $13.9 billion in 2020, down 4.9% YoY. Despite the decline, PC gaming accounts for more than 32% of game revenue and nearly 45% of gamers, and is projected to return to growth in 2022.
- There were 325.4 million PC gamers in mainland China as of the end of 2020, up 1.4% YoY. We expect total PC gamers to reach 335.3 million in 2025 at a 5-year CAGR of 0.6%. Most PC gamers are also mobile gamers.
- China’s domestic mobile game revenue was $29.2 billion in 2020, up 30.9% YoY. This is the highest annual growth rate for China’s domestic mobile game revenue since 2017.
- There were 681.7 million mobile gamers in mainland China as of the end of 2020, up 7% YoY, projected to reach 748 million in 2025.
- Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and Monthly Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU) rose in 2020.
- Export game revenue increased 36.7% in 2020, a higher increase than domestic game revenue.
- Tencent and NetEase remained the top 2 domestic game publishers in China but are facing increasing competition from both large tech companies and medium sized game companies.
- miHoYo’s Genshin Impact had a major impact on the market and more domestically developed AAA titles are expected in the future.
“2020 was a unique year for China’s games market due to the impact of COVID-19. China’s government imposed stay-at-home lockdown orders nationwide from January 2020,” said Lisa Hanson, founder and president of Niko Partners. “While China has mostly returned to normal, the pandemic and resulting lockdowns led to major changes in gamer behavior, engagement, and spend throughout the year.”
Niko’s research methodology includes online surveys of Chinese gamers, trends analysis on key topics such as esports, leading games and game company market share estimates, review of regulations and policy plus interviews of game publishers, analysis of drivers and inhibitors for growth, review of distribution, hardware, payments, internet cafes, and more. Each market report provides a comprehensive market model and 5-year forecast of games and gamers, and qualitative and quantitative analysis on gamer demand, behavior and usage for mobile and PC games.
For more information visit:
China Mobile Games Market Report
China PC Games Market Report
ABOUT NIKO PARTNERS
Niko Partners is the leading market research firm covering video games, esports, and streaming in Asia. Founded in 2002, the firm conducts syndicated and custom research studies on China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei, Japan, South Korea, and India on the topics of online games, mobile games, consoles and console games, regulatory issues, piracy, development, online operators, distribution, internet cafes, retail and more. Niko Partners also offers consulting services including focus groups, partnership selection, IPO and market opportunity analysis, custom surveys in cities throughout China and the Asia Pacific region, and customized data analysis. The company is based in Silicon Valley with offices in Shanghai, Bangkok, Jakarta and London, and its clients include worldwide leaders in game software, hardware, and services, as well as hedge funds, media companies, trade associations, and management consulting firms, all of whom have a vested interest in a thorough understanding of the region. www.nikopartners.com