The Chinese mini-game market is on the rise. According to estimates by the analytics company DataEye, by the end of 2024, its volume will exceed 50 billion yuan ($6.86 billion).
Whiteout Survival
For comparison: in 2020, the market volume was 11.1 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), in 2021 — 15 billion yuan ($2 billion), in 2022 — 21.7 billion yuan ($2.98 billion), and in 2023 — 30.4 billion yuan ($4.17 billion).
The Chinese mini-game market is expected to set a new record next year. DataEye forecasts revenue exceeding 61 billion yuan ($8.37 billion).
Several conclusions from the DataEye report:
- One factor in market growth is that major companies like 37Games, Century Games, and others have begun to release their mini-games more frequently. Additionally, many small teams are now actively interested in this segment, resulting in an increased market supply;
- Half of mobile gamers in China regularly launch mini-games on WeChat. Another 15% play mini-games on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok);
- 29% of the most popular mini-games in China are made with Unity;
- The list of mini-games with the highest MAU (monthly active users) includes projects like Whiteout Survival, Plants vs Zombies, Happy Landlord, Gossip Harbor, Yuan Meng Star, and Zombie Killer (向僵尸开炮).