Chinese games are booming overseas, with revenues reaching 68.3 billion yuan in the first half of the year.

Image source: Tuchong

Author |  Zhang Zhao   

Editor   | Luo Lijuan 

With an 11% increase, the overseas game market has fully recovered!

At the recently held 2025 China International Digital Entertainment Industry Conference (CDEC) Summit Forum (hereinafter referred to as the "Summit Forum"), Zhang Yijun, the first vice - chairman of the China Audio - Video and Digital Publishing Association and the director of the Game Work Committee, released the "Report on the Chinese Game Industry from January to June 2025". Among them, mainly thanks to the revenue of long - running products and the income of new products launched in 2024, the actual sales revenue of Chinese self - developed games in the overseas market reached 9.501 billion US dollars (approximately 68.341 billion yuan), a year - on - year increase of 11.07%. This sales data has reached a new high in the past five years, and the growth rate has returned to over 10% again.

Image source: Photographed by Time Finance

In recent years, the global mobile game market has been continuously recovering. The "Report on the Competitiveness of Global Mobile Game Market Enterprises in 2024" released by Gamma Data shows that the global mobile game market scale increased by 4.8% year - on - year to 635.57 billion yuan, and the overseas market remains an important area for the layout of the Chinese game industry.

However, game categories such as puzzle and casual games are the strong areas of overseas game companies, and most of them have a first - mover advantage. Therefore, since this year, more and more game manufacturers have entered the overseas market through the mode of gameplay integration and theme innovation and achieved certain results. For example, manufacturers such as Tencent (00700.HK), NetEase (NTES; 09999.HK), 37 Interactive Entertainment (002555.SZ), DianDian Interactive under Century Huatong (002602.SZ), Kemu Games under Shenzhou Taiyue (300002.SZ), and Youzu Networks (002174.SZ) have all stepped up their overseas business, which not only raised the upper limit of the market scale but also provided fertile ground for the birth of industry blockbusters.

01 AI Boosts a New Era of Game Overseas Expansion

With the rapid development of AI technology, game manufacturers have迎来了new opportunities for overseas expansion.

Sun Shoushan, the chairman of the China Audio - Video and Digital Publishing Association, said at the Summit Forum that foreign game companies have quite mature applications of AI technology. They have not only deeply integrated it into the entire game development process but also built a benchmark system for intelligent production. In contrast, although some leading domestic enterprises have taken the lead in promoting it, there are still gaps in in - depth applications, and problems such as the lag of small and medium - sized teams and uneven efficiency conversion still exist.

Wang Chuanpeng, the vice - president of data at the Technology Center of 37 Interactive Entertainment, revealed at the Summit Forum that around the self - developed industry large - model "Xiaoqi", 37 Interactive Entertainment has built more than 40 types of AI capabilities. Among them, the AI translation technology enables games to achieve multi - language localization more quickly and accurately, helping games enter the global market. Currently, more than 60% of the company's overseas games are using AI translation, with an accuracy rate of up to 95%.

Youzu Networks told Time Finance that the company is actively exploring ways to consolidate its diversified distribution capabilities through various cutting - edge technologies, transforming advanced technologies such as big data and AI into productivity, and empowering the entire process of global game R & D and operation.

Relying on its "AI Innovation Institute" and focusing on the two major directions of "AIGC" and "AI Empowering Game Globalization", Youzu Networks has currently built an AI - empowered system that runs through the entire R & D and distribution process. With the help of large - model technology, it breaks down language and cultural barriers, provides a more immersive game experience for global players, and is committed to promoting high - quality games to quickly break through the circle globally.

Especially in terms of distribution, Youzu Networks is committed to improving terminal adaptation capabilities and diversified distribution capabilities. By using advanced technologies such as big data and AI, it has innovatively realized the productization of AI tools for the entire distribution process, achieving tool - based coverage of the entire distribution process from version release, platform access, and market promotion, effectively improving the operational efficiency of "one version, global distribution".

In addition, AI technology can also help game manufacturers accurately reach target users through big data analysis and user profiling, achieve more efficient market promotion, and effectively reduce the cost of buying traffic.

A relevant person in charge of Unity Grow told Time Finance that the new AI model Vector launched by Unity integrates a self - learning mechanism, which can deeply understand user behavior, respond to player behavior and game changes in real - time, improve advertising accuracy, optimize the return on advertising spend (ROAS), and achieve faster and larger - scale effect improvement. Compared with the old model, Vector has achieved an increase of about 15% - 20% in both the installation volume and in - app purchase value.

Meanwhile, a relevant person in charge of Snapchat also introduced to Time Finance that during ChinaJoy, Snapchat launched several newly upgraded advertising products and solutions, further helping advertisers in the game and general entertainment industries improve their overseas marketing efficiency. Among them, the AI - generated AR filter advertisement is an automated AR filter production driven by generative AI, which can complete AR advertising creativity in minutes, break through the production capacity bottleneck, and is specially designed for app and game advertisers, which can optimize the cost per install.

Currently, it is necessary to fully release the key role of game scenarios in AI development and promote games to become an important variable leading innovation. Grasp the trend of AI empowerment extending from the production end to the experience end to open up more space for industrial development. Yu Ruichao, the vice - president of Tencent Interactive Entertainment and the chief editor of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, mentioned when talking about AI applications.

02 Cultural Overseas Expansion Enters the "Deep Water Area"

Nowadays, cultural overseas expansion has gradually shifted from simple cultural dissemination and product output to deeper - level cultural integration, market adaptation, and local operation, achieving two - way cultural communication.

Last year, the domestic 3A game "Black Myth: Wukong", which contains profound Chinese cultural heritage, became a global hit. This single - player action - adventure game with the theme of Journey to the West has won high praise from players for its excellent picture quality, unique Oriental aesthetic style, and immersive combat gameplay.

In addition to the in - depth application of AI technology injecting strong innovation impetus into the game, this game has also successfully broken through the circle in the overseas market, setting off a cultural learning boom of "Chinese - style Journey to the West", greatly stimulating overseas players' strong interest in Chinese culture and opening a unique window to Chinese culture for global players.

Ao Ran, the executive vice - chairman and secretary - general of the China Audio - Video and Digital Publishing Association, said that games are not only entertainment products but also an important cultural ecosystem closely combined with technology, an important scenario for the application of technological innovation, an important carrier of traditional Chinese culture, an important way for Chinese culture to go global, and an important part of the development of the digital economy. Games will connect culture with all industries and promote the cultural industry to release spill - over value to external fields.

Image source: Tuchong

"Meanwhile, we also need to advance from basic product output to deeper - level cultural overseas expansion, making games a carrier of cross - regional cultural dialogue and building a global industrial ecosystem of 'technological interconnection and cultural mutual learning'." Sun Shoushan pointed out.

Since this year, the wave of cultural overseas expansion has been surging.

Time Finance learned from Youzu Networks that products such as the "Young Heroes of the Three Kingdoms" series, the "Young Heroes of the Journey to the West" series, and "Shanhaijing: Flower Mirror" under Youzu also take Chinese classical culture as the core and combine innovative gameplay to showcase the charm of traditional Chinese culture.

In addition, Youzu Networks also actively inherits excellent culture through cross - border cooperation. In June this year, "Young Heroes of the Three Kingdoms 2" carried out in - depth cooperation with Ma Weiheng, the inheritor of the national - level intangible cultural heritage Guangling School of Qin. Inspired by Ji Kang's famous piece "Drunken Madman", it launched new military generals Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, allowing players to immerse themselves in the beauty of Chinese style. Previously, Youzu also carried out in - depth cooperation between several of its products and intangible cultural heritage IPs such as the Dunhuang Museum, blue - and - white porcelain, facial makeup, and Shu embroidery, continuously exploring in the field of cultural inheritance and dissemination, telling Chinese stories well through games, and connecting global players with Chinese culture.

At the Summit Forum, Yao Zhe, the vice - president of Xishanju, shared Xishanju's understanding of the overseas game market. He believes that the essence of game overseas expansion is cultural overseas expansion, and the key to successful overseas expansion lies in using international expressions to convey the spiritual core of Chinese culture.

On July 2, Xishanju's highly anticipated new near - future science - fiction mecha - themed game "Limitless Mecha" officially started its global public beta. In response, Yao Zhe said, "Xishanju chose the globally recognized cultural symbol of'mecha + science - fiction' as a breakthrough point, and through the visual language familiar to the younger generation, it achieved the cross - regional dissemination of Chinese cultural values. This strategy not only continues the spiritual context of traditional Chinese culture but also fits the aesthetic preferences of contemporary global players in an innovative form."

Zhu Ying, the chief operating officer of Shanghai Baijiahe Information Technology Development Co., Ltd., said at a symposium titled "Creating a Globally Popular Game Product!" that a good product needs to have values loved by global players, be exquisitely made, respect history, have innovative gameplay, be able to arouse players' resonance, allow players to experience justice, courage, and friendship, and have common elements that transcend cultural differences.

"From 'playing games' to 'creating economic value', the evolution of the game industry is essentially an innovation in the economic form. Looking forward to the future, the game economy will grow with the growth of Generation Z, developing from a new economic form into an important force promoting economic growth; it will release great potential along with technological iteration, cultural prosperity, and consumption upgrading, reshaping the economic landscape and cultural pattern." Ao Ran pointed out.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Time Finance APP", author: Zhang Zhao, published with permission.