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China’s gaming industry surged in the first half of 2025, posting its fastest growth in five years, fueled by hit mobile titles, rising e-sports revenues and the continued boom in mini-games.
According to an report released Thursday by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Conference in Shanghai, the domestic gaming market generated 168 billion yuan ($23 billion) in revenue from January to June, up 14.1% year-on-year. The country counted 679 million gamers, a modest 0.7% rise, marking the fourth straight year of user growth below 1%.
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- China’s gaming market generated 168 billion yuan ($23 billion) in H1 2025, up 14.1% year-on-year, with 679 million gamers.
- Mobile games led growth, earning 125.3 billion yuan (74.6% of revenue), while mini-games surged 40.2% to 23.3 billion yuan; console games rebounded nearly 30%.
- Overseas mobile game revenue reached $9.5 billion, up 11.2%, with strategy games comprising 43% of top 100 titles’ revenue abroad.
- 2021–2023：
- Overseas revenue growth from Chinese-developed games slowed since 2021, with negative growth recorded in 2023.
- 2021–2025：
- The period was marked as the strongest five-year half-year growth for mobile games.
- 2022–2025：
- User growth among gamers remained below 1% for four consecutive years.
- 2023：
- China’s anime-style 'second dimension' game segment saw a 24% rise in revenue.
- 2024：
- China’s anime-style 'second dimension' game segment experienced a 5.4% drop in revenue.
- First half of 2024：
- Console game revenue in the first half of 2025 increased by nearly 30% compared to this period.
- January to June 2025：
- China's domestic gaming market generated 168 billion yuan in revenue, up 14.1% year-on-year; mobile games generated 125.3 billion yuan (up 16.6%); client-based PC games generated 35.4 billion yuan (up 4.9%); web-based games fell to 2.2 billion yuan (down 5.9%); console games reached 1.03 billion yuan (up nearly 30% yoy); mini-games generated 23.3 billion yuan (up 40.2%); advertising revenue from mini-games hit 7.97 billion yuan (up 34.3%); casual games generated 16.4 billion yuan; e-sports games generated 80.6 billion yuan (up 16.6%); Chinese-developed mobile games earned $9.5 billion overseas (up 11.2%).
- By the first half of 2025：
- The United States, Japan, and South Korea remain the top markets for Chinese-developed mobile games, contributing 32%, 16%, and 7.5% of revenue, respectively.
- July 31, 2025：
- A report on China's gaming industry for the first half of 2025 was released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Conference in Shanghai.
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