In statistics reports surveyed in China at the end of the first half of 2022, it has come up that the growth and revenue generated by Chinese games have fallen, and the number of Chinese mobile gaming users has seen a decline for the first time since 2008 when survey data was first collected.
According to the reports, both Mobile Gaming users and Revenue earning in China saw a decline
According to the statistics, which have been shared by the Game Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association in a report released at an industry conference, the number of gamers in China has decreased from 666.57 million to 665.69 million, accounting for a 1.8% decline.
The domestic revenue earned from gaming ventures in China has decreased by 4.25%. This is very low as opposed to the 8.3% and 30.4% growth in the first halves of 2021 and 2020 respectively. With the giants of the Chinese gaming industry such as Tencent, NetEase, and HoYoverse focusing on expanding their markets globally, the global revenue of Chinese games has increased by about 6.2% to bring in around $9 billion in the first half of the year. Although the graph is still positive, it is less steep than the years before.
The retardation in the upward graph of China’s gaming industry has come after the implementation of harsh policies to control gaming. The policies include monitoring and restricting the time spent by the youth playing video games. Along with a strict licensing system, and a stringent censorship board. These harsh regulations have caused the gaming economy and industry to slow down as a result.
Decline in mobile users and revenue generation has had an massive impact on Esports
As a result of the shrinking growth in other areas of the game industry, the esports ecosystem of China has suffered too. The total revenue of the Chinese esports in the first half of the year is $11.31% billion which is a decline of 10.12% as compared to last year, reported PanDaily.
The report, released by Tang Jiajun, deputy secretary-general of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, at a forum held on July 22 in Zhejiang Province.
Keeping in lieu with the decrease in the total number of gamers in China, the number of players and audiences involved in esports has decreased as well, with the number being 487 million, which is lesser than last year. On a positive note, due to the maturity of online competitions, from January to June 2022, the number of e-sports events in China increased year on year to 62.
Final Thoughts
Last year, China imposed one of the strictest enforcement policies on gaming in the world. And the effects it has had are more than evident from the statistics reported.
Although the implementation of such policies was done with a fair aim in mind, to keep the youth more focused on their real life rather than a virtual one, it has no doubt been a retardant when it comes to judging growth from an economic point of view. Thus, it remains to be seen how it all ends up if the companies manage a workaround to make the graph rise again, as we also continue to monitor the reports regarding it.
What are your thoughts as China sees a decline in Mobile Gaming users base along with fall in revenue earning? Let us know in the comments below!
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“the number of gamers in China has decreased from 666.57 million to 665.69 million, accounting for a 1.8% decline”. That’s a drop of just under 1m gamers. Surely therefore the decline is more like (roughly) 0.15%?