Guides
Publishing a game in China, explained with the numbers.
Practical guides for PC and mobile studios: the routes into China, finding and vetting a Chinese publisher, what a revenue share really pays, the licence process, and how Chinese players find, buy and review games. Every figure is sourced and dated.
How to Publish a Game in China: A Step-by-Step Guide
The three routes into China, what each needs, what it costs and how long it takes, with the numbers behind every claim. Start here.
Read the guideData, updated monthly
China Steam Signals, October 2026
How Chinese players respond to 495 recent Steam games from outside China: review share, language support and approval gaps. Free to cite, with the data as a CSV.
8.4%
of reviews in Simplified Chinese
See the dataAll guides
- 02Partnerships
How to Choose a China Publishing Partner for Your Game
Four kinds of partner, the criteria to score every candidate on, how to verify what you are told, and the red flags to walk away from.
8 min readRead - 03Partnerships
How to Find a Chinese Co-Publisher for Your Game
Where Chinese publishers actually show up, how to verify a company and trace its real work, and the questions to put to every shortlisted candidate.
7 min readRead - 04Business
How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Game in China?
Each route priced with sourced figures: what a co-publisher takes instead of cash, localisation and marketing rates, licence costs, tax on the way out, and two budgets for the same indie game.
10 min readRead - 05Strategy
How to Measure Chinese Demand for Your Steam Game
The Steamworks regional report, your Simplified Chinese reviews, the language-specific review score and comparable titles: what each tells you and how to turn it into a decision.
7 min readRead - 06Localisation
Simplified Chinese Localisation for Steam Games: Scope, Cost and Testing
When to localise, what to put in scope, what vendors charge, the register problem that sinks accurate translations, the font and layout checks, and how to test before Chinese reviewers do.
8 min readRead - 07Mobile
WeChat Mini Games for Western Developers: Terms, Publishers and the Port
What a mini game is, the terms WeChat and Douyin publish, how a Western studio gets in through a publisher, the technical limits of the port, the licence and the retention bar.
8 min readRead - 08Publishing
Co-Publishing vs Self-Publishing in China: How to Decide
What a partner’s half actually buys, what self-publishing costs in cash and time, and how to compare the two on one basis.
7 min readRead - 09Business
Revenue Share in Chinese Game Publishing: A Worked Example
A worked GBP example showing how the revenue base, deductions and recoupment order change your receipts on the same headline split.
6 min readRead - 10Platform Insights
Steam Global vs Steam China: A Developer’s Guide
Two storefronts, two sets of rules. What each is, how they compare side by side, and how to decide for your game.
7 min readRead - 11Regulation
Do I Need an ISBN Licence to Release My Game in China?
Who can file, what the application contains, how long it takes, what it costs and which routes need it, from the published rules and practitioner reports.
9 min readRead - 12Marketing
Marketing Your Game in China: Channels, Timing and Cost
Heybox, Bilibili, Douyin and Xiaohongshu, what each does, a launch timeline that matches how China buys, what creators cost and how to handle reviews.
10 min readRead - 13Strategy
What Do Chinese Players Want From Your Game?
What the public record says about Chinese Steam players’ tastes, how to read the demand you already have, and how to turn it into a brief.
6 min readRead - 14Strategy
5 Mistakes Western Developers Make in China
Five expensive, common mistakes, each with a named public case and a cheap check to run before you localise, brief a publisher or sign.
7 min readRead
Put it into practice
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