China wants to become a global leader in the export of cultural values. Local officials have prepared a plan that should help the Celestial Empire achieve this title in three years. There was also a place for video games in it.

37Games is a publisher of mobile and browser games, known primarily for Puzzles & Survival, Wild Frontier and Jurassic Tribes. Recently, it was reported on Chinese social networks that the company had closed a branch in Chengdu. It employed about 30 people.

In January-June 2022, China’s gaming market earned ¥147.7 billion ($21.8 billion), declining by 1.8% year-on-year. This was the first drop since 2008, when the Chinese Association of Audio—Video and Digital Publishers began publishing data on the local market.

Yesterday, for the third time after a prolonged “freeze”, the Chinese authorities published a list of games that are allowed to be published in the country. Against this background, the shares of local gaming companies went up. Even those whose projects have not received a license.

Despite the ban on publishing games in China without a license, some developers are still trying to do it. The other day, the Shanghai authorities reported that they issued a fine for a total of 1.1 million ($ 165 thousand) to studios that decided to circumvent the restriction.

Contrary to the pessimistic forecasts of a number of analysts, the Chinese authorities continue to issue licenses for the release of games in the country. The National Press and Publications Administration (NPPA) has published a fresh list of approved projects — the third after the “freeze”.

Shanghai continues to be seriously interested in the metaverse. The city authorities announced that they are going to create a fund for ¥ 10 billion ($ 1.49 billion), the money from which will go to the development of the metaverse direction. They hope that thanks to the financing, Shanghai companies will launch at least 100 “benchmark-level products and services” by 2025.

It will be about news that, if it concerned someone from Russia, would hardly have aroused much interest. The CEO, co-founder of the Shanghai gaming company XD and owner of a fortune of $ 1.2 billion Huang Imang is preparing to move to live from China to another country.

About the pitfalls when working with Chinese game publishers, — she told in her column for App2Top.ru Svetlana Gordey, a leading lawyer of the REVERA legal group.

In China, not everything is in order in the gaming market. Gamma Data analysts estimated that in May 2022, he was able to earn only $3.4 billion – 6.74% less than last year. At the same time, in April and March, market revenue also fell (by 3.4% and 9.05%).

The Chinese authorities have decided to strengthen control over another area of activity. On July 22, the country’s Ministry of Culture published an extensive set of rules that all Chinese streamers are required to comply with.

The first place in the top predictably went to Tencent. Analysts did not say how much the company earned at the games in May. They did not provide this data for other publishers from the list.

Власти Китая вновь перестали лицензировать онлайн-игры. Как сообщают местные СМИ, с середины апреля ни один проект не получил разрешение на релиз. Регулятор официально не комментировал случившееся и не объяснял, когда прекратится новая приостановка.

Китайский консольный рынок остается нишевым. Компания Niko Partners подсчитала, что к в 2026 году он заработает $2,53 млрд с учетом как легальных, так и «серых» продаж. Это всего 4% от суммарного дохода игрового рынка Китая.

The figure was shared by the Chinese Gaming Industry Committee. How much less is not specified, but 43% of parents surveyed said that last year their children played “much less often” than in 2020.

The increasing control by the authorities will not prevent the growth of the Chinese gaming market, at least the mobile and PC segments. Analysts at Niko Partners shared a forecast according to which the total turnover of these segments will increase by 22% in five years.

In the first quarter of 2022, the Chinese gaming industry earned more than $12 billion. The market continues to grow, and mobile games account for the bulk of revenue.

Last week, the National Press and Publication Commission (NPPA) resumed issuing gaming licenses after a nine-month freeze. However, foreign studios still have no access to the Chinese market.

Yesterday, Tencent announced that it will no longer support unlicensed foreign games. Starting from May 31, the company will change the operation of the services through which players gained access to them.