Is it China’s turn? In the 90s, Japanese studios reigned supreme with their games and the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive consoles. Then European and American studios came to compete with them. And here is China rising in power. Explanations with Brice N’Guessan, editorial director of Video Games Magazine.
franceinfo: Is the video game industry growing in China?
Brice N’Guessan: Yes, China is no longer limited to its local market as was the case for a long time. Chinese publishers have experienced tremendous growth internationally with smartphones, making it easier for them to reach all gamers on the planet. In 2021, Chinese mobile games generated $32 billion in revenue, twice as much as the Americans who are second in this market.
An international development that has become almost an obligation for many Chinese studios…
That’s the whole paradox. Chinese games are exported very well, especially on mobile phones, but at the national level, the situation has changed. For a year, the video game industry has been in the crosshairs of the Chinese government, believing that it creates addiction among adolescents. The measures have been drastic, especially on online gaming limited to three hours per week. Additionally, any game not approved by the government is now banned for sale and approvals are trickling in.
One of the giants of the sector is the first affected: Tencent?
Behind Tencent there are many activities: social networks, messaging service, payment, health but also video games. And in this field, it is quite simply the world number one. The name of Tencent means nothing to you yet it owns 40% of the game publisher Fortnite. It owns Riot, the publisher of one of the most popular games in the world: League of Legends but above all the Chinese company is positioned all over the planet by taking shares in the French Ubisoft, the American Activision or by taking 85% of the Finnish publisher Supercell, author of the famous mobile game Clash of clans.
Can we expect a surge of Chinese games on our market?
It is a possibility! If the Chinese government continues such regulation of video games on its territory, international development is inevitable for the studios and we can expect to see many Chinese games landing on PC and consoles, the quality of which should be there, because what we don’t say enough is that for years, Western studios have outsourced part of their games to Asia. An experience that should now serve these Chinese studios who want to emancipate themselves.