China’s games market surpassed $50 billion for the first time in 2025, growing 5.4% year-on-year to $51.8 billion.
A new report from Niko Partners projects the market will grow 4% in 2026 to $53.9 billion, and reach $59.8 billion by 2030, reflecting a five-year CAGR of 2.9%.
China’s player base is expected to reach 769 million by 2030, with average weekly playtime rising to 15.8 hours from 14.1 hours last year.
Niko Partners attributed the rise in revenue and players to “stronger-than-expected performance from both newly launched titles and legacy evergreen games.”
Mini-games are a “major growth segment,” with 80% of Chinese players engaging in the genre, which represents almost 20% of mobile game spending.
Nearly half of players use short video apps to discover new games and information across platforms.
The report also highlights that 66% of Chinese players use various methods to bypass the country’s internet censorship. Among respondents, 30.8% play on global servers, 33.6% use gaming accelerators, and 21.9% use VPNs.
Earlier this year, China included video games in its 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-2030). Games were previously categorised as digital cultural products.
Niko Partners identified five key trends for China’s games market over the next five years: growth in niche genres, increased out-of-app monetisation, regulatory improvements, higher consumer spending on premium PC and console titles, and the integration of generative AI.
The firm noted that Chinese games companies are “rapidly embracing generative AI across development pipelines and player-facing features,” along with a “broader boom” in user-generated content platforms.
While the rapid expansion of generative AI infrastructure has driven demand for RAM and semiconductor components, Niko Partners said that “ongoing innovation, regulatory clarity, and robust player engagement continue to support long-term market growth” in China.