The Slow Growth of the Chinese Game Industry
Under the new restrictions from the Minor Protection Law from 2021, minors in China are only allowed to play games for one hour a day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, and they are not allowed to play online games on weekdays at all. After the restrictions were effective, the issuance of publishing licenses for newly-released games was also suspended. Consequently, the size of the Chinese gaming market, which had previously been continuously growing, showed a downward trend in 2022 for the first time.
Even though publishing licenses started being issued again in April 2022, the number of issuances was still significantly low compared to 2021. Because of that, Chinese game developers have begun to come up with specific strategies to target overseas markets.
Chinese Game Companies Go Global
Chinese game companies Tencent and NetEase Games actively acquired overseas game developers and established their own global publishing studios. In 2021, Tencent’s overseas sales increased to 31%, and its global revenue accounted for 20% of the total. Due to the popularity of their game ‘Goddess of Victory: Nikke’, its global revenue reached 23.1% by the end of 2022. Since then, the proportion of its overseas sales has kept growing.
NetEase Games revealed the proportion of its global revenue for the first time in 2018, and in 2021, its overseas sales accounted for about 15% of all revenue. The CEO of the company once said in an interview, “NetEase Games will continue its effort to increase its global revenue to 50% of the total.”
Besides that, newly-established game developers, such as HoYoverse (formerly known as miHoYo), FunPlus, and 37 Interactive Entertainment, have successfully entered overseas markets and drawn as much attention as major game developers.
Popular Chinese Games in Overseas Markets
According to SensorTower’s ‘Top Grossing Mobile Games Worldwide’ published at the end of 2022, four mobile games from Chinese game publishers made it into the top 10: Honor of Kings (Tencent Games), Goddess of Victory: Nikke (Tencent Games), Genshin Impact (HoYoverse), and Rise of Kingdoms (LilithGames).
Usually, the first step towards the overseas expansion of Chinese mobile games begins in the Korean gaming market, as the Chinese game industry was heavily influenced by Korean games in its early development stage, and the localization process is relatively easy due to the same East Asian culture.
Besides that, if we look at the sales rankings of the Korean mobile gaming market provided by Mobile Index, we can find several games from Chinese game publishers. In addition to the previously mentioned works from major game publishers, many newly-established game developers are also distinguishing themselves with games such as Path to Nowhere (AISNO Games), Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio) and Arknights (Shanghai Eagle Horn Network).
Chinese Mobile Games’ Success Through Localization Tailored to Native Speakers’ Expectations
After its debut in the global market in 2020, HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact has been extremely popular and proved to be a well-made game by ranking at the top of the global mobile games sales for three consecutive years. Known for its optimized localization and a deep understanding of the individual cultures and languages of each serviced region, the game offers dubbing in four languages, including English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese, and has been translated into fourteen languages. As a result, it has been providing an identical gameplay experience to gamers all around the world.
The tower defense RPG game Path to Nowhere generated about 200 million yuan in sales within the first month of its overseas launch after its release in 2022. Although it was produced by a medium-sized game developer, it is regarded as a masterpiece thanks to its excellent controls, a UI design faithful to its concept, and a captivating storyline. Path to Nowhere, a tower defense game that requires strategic play, succeeded in finding new users in overseas markets and thrivingly entered South Korea, Japan, and North America through its high-quality localization.
Tower of Fantasy and Arknights, which were released in China first and acquired a large number of loyal users, were promptly localized into various other languages by means of translation and dubbing in order to ensure a successful overseas expansion. Just like other Chinese games that are popular in overseas markets, these two games also support Korean, English, and Japanese languages. Thus, game localization and multilingual dubbing have already become essential requirements for Chinese game companies to enter overseas markets.
“Game localization for overseas markets is not just about a simple translation, but rather an effort to overcome cultural differences as well as a crucial factor for the success in foreign markets.”
– DataEye, CEO WANG YANGBIN
Responsible for the localization and LQA testing for various games, including Path to Nowhere and Tower of Fantasy, Latis Global offers its expertise in game translation, voice recording, LQA testing, and game operation, and always assists gamers from all around the world to ensure that they enjoy games and have a pleasant experience regardless of language differences.
For any comments or additional questions, please email us at contact@latisglobal.com any time.
