The China Series · Market Intelligence Suite
China
In Three Parts.
For a decade the Western question about China in games was the same one: can we sell there? That question is now obsolete. China became the largest games market on Earth, then produced the audience and the formats that set the terms everyone else plays by. This series traces that shift across three reports: the market, the audience, and the product.
$50B
China domestic games market, 2025
683M
Registered gamers
50%+
Chinese share of Steam users, Feb 2025
830M
Microdrama viewers training the next audience
I
The China Multiplier
China became the world's largest games market in 2025. For premium PC titles on Steam, the Chinese audience is now the dominant share — and the cost of ignoring it has a name.
Open Part I
II
The Gacha Paradox
The same audience that funded the most extractive monetization in gaming history is now the most enthusiastic premium buyer on Steam. Why the gacha decade made China premium-friendly.
Open Part II
III
Microdrama With a Controller
The West buried FMV in the 1990s. China fused it with microdrama and built a breakout Steam genre now pulling in SEGA as co-publisher.
Open Part III
The market didn't wait for permission. The audience was trained elsewhere. And the product was already a franchise before the West noticed the category existed. Read in order.