What should I look for in a China publishing partner?

A record with games like yours and evidence of what they did on each, a named Chinese-speaking team with time for your launch, a first-month marketing plan and budget in writing, commercial terms you can compare on the same revenue base, statements you can reconcile to Steamworks, and clear approval and exit rights.

Should I choose a Chinese publisher or a co-publishing service?

It depends on the route. A domestic release on Steam China, WeGame or the Chinese app stores needs a licensed Chinese publisher, because only a mainland publishing unit can file for approval. For an existing international Steam release, a co-publisher, paid suppliers or a Chinese publisher can all work, so compare them on the same brief.

How do I check that a Chinese publisher is legitimate?

Look up its registered Chinese name on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, check the NPPA approval lists for games it says it filed, speak to a developer reference about delivery, and ask to see real campaign output, a sample report and a clone takedown it has run.

What are the warning signs in a China publishing deal?

Requests to transfer the Steam app, share the main login or hand over source code; promises of a licence or full compliance without a written route; a revenue share on a vague base with uncapped recoupable costs; no named team; global rights or broad long-term exclusivity with no performance condition; and an upfront fee for the publishing deal itself.

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Partnerships

How to Choose a China Publishing Partner for Your Game

Choose a China publishing partner by deciding first which of four kinds of partner your route needs, then scoring every candidate against the same brief: a record in your genre, a named team, the marketing they will actually run in the first month, commercial terms compared on one revenue base, the reporting you will receive and how you can leave. A strong catalogue or a confident pitch is not a substitute for any of those, and a weak partner can hold your China rights for years.

Author: EightSix Games
Revised: 9 October 2026
Reading time: 8 min read

In short

Four different businesses call themselves China publishing partners: a licensed Chinese publisher, a Steam Global co-publisher, a paid supplier and an adviser. The route decides which you need.
Read your existing publishing contract first. Worldwide rights grants are common and may already include China.
Score candidates on evidence you can inspect: named games and what they did on them, a developer you can phone, a sample report, a clone takedown they have run.
Compare money on one basis. A lower percentage on a wider revenue base, with uncapped recoupable costs, can cost more than a higher one.
If nobody scores well, wait. That is a result, not a failure.

In this guide

Decide which kind of partner you need

“China publishing partner” covers four different businesses, and they are not interchangeable:

Partner	What it does	Paid by	Needed for
Licensed Chinese publisher	Files for the game licence in its own name and operates the game inside the mainland: Steam China, WeGame, the app stores, TapTap	A share of revenue; may recoup filing and localisation costs	Any domestic release. Only a mainland publishing unit can file
Steam Global co-publisher	Localises and markets your existing international Steam release to Chinese players: creators, Heybox, Bilibili, community, enforcement	A share of China revenue, often about half	A PC game whose Chinese launch you want run by people with standing in China
Paid supplier	Translation, LQA, a Chinese-speaking marketer or PR agency, by the job or the month	Fees: translation at roughly €0.09 to €0.12 a word; a PR retainer about $2,000 to $3,000 a month	A finite gap you can manage yourself
Adviser	Assesses the opportunity, finds and vets partners, negotiates and checks delivery, without publishing anything	A fee credited against a share. EightSix is this kind	Studios that would rather not run the search and negotiation themselves

The route decides the shortlist. A domestic release needs a licensed Chinese publisher; a Steam Global plan can use any of the other three. Our guide to how to publish a game in China explains the routes, and co-publishing vs self-publishing compares partnering with doing it yourself.

Check your existing contracts first

If you already have a Western publisher, read its agreement before talking to anyone in China. Many publishing deals grant worldwide rights, which may already include China, or give the publisher a say in any new territory deal. Studios with several titles should also check platform and distribution agreements for exclusivity that would limit a new partner.

Knowing who holds which rights tells you whether you are choosing a partner, asking permission or negotiating a carve-out. Do the same for your trademark: China is a first-to-file jurisdiction, and a good partner will register your marks there in your name, as your agent, rather than its own.

Score every candidate on the same criteria

Send each candidate the same brief and score the answers, not the presentation. These are the criteria that separate good partners from busy ones:

Criterion	What to ask for	What a strong answer looks like
Route fit	For a domestic release: games taken through approval as the named publisher. Check the NPPA lists	Named titles that appear in the public approval lists
Genre record	Recent games comparable to yours in genre, price and scope, and what they personally did on each	Specific work: who translated, which creators, what the first report said
The team	Named, Chinese-speaking people with stated time on your game	No clash with their other launches in your window; you can meet them before signing
Marketing they will run	Channels, creators, Heybox and Bilibili plans for the first month; budget committed in writing; who approves spend	A plan built around your game, not a platform list. A real campaign report from a past title
Localisation process	Who translates, who tests in the build, who fixes problems after updates	A glossary and an in-build sample before full sign-off
Commercial terms	The revenue base, recoupable costs, minimum commitments, term and exclusivity	Net of Steam’s cut, refunds, VAT and withholding, with costs listed and capped
Reporting	What a statement contains, how often, and whether you can reconcile it to Steamworks	Monthly, reconcilable, with an audit right
Control and exit	Approval rights, Steamworks access, reversion triggers, what you get back	Task permissions only; assets and community channels revert with the rights

Mark anything unanswered as unanswered. A proposal that leaves out costs or commitments should not score better because it says less. Our guide to finding a Chinese co-publisher covers how to test each answer.

Verify what you are told

Check the company exists as described. Chinese companies are listed on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, which shows the registered name, status and legal representative; ask for the registered Chinese name, because the brand you have been dealing with may belong to a different entity from the one that would sign. For approval claims, the NPPA publishes monthly lists naming the publishing and operating entities for each imported game.

Ask for a developer reference you can speak to, with permission, and ask that studio about delivery and how problems were handled rather than whether they were happy. Ask to see campaign output and a sample report with confidential data removed. Ask to see a clone takedown they have run on Douyin or TapTap and how long it took; when filed by a Chinese entity with standing, takedowns have taken three days to a week. A partner that will not show work it says it has done has answered the question.

Red flags

Asking you to transfer the Steam app, or for the studio’s main login, when task-specific Steamworks permissions would cover the work.
Asking for source code for a Steam Global marketing deal. A build is all that work needs.
Promising a licence, a fast approval or “full compliance” without a written route naming the entities, platforms and approvals involved. See the licence guide.
A revenue share on a vague base, with recoupable costs that have no cap and no approval process.
No named team, or a team you cannot meet before signing.
Global rights, or exclusivity across every platform and territory for a long term with no performance condition to end it.
An upfront fee from you for the publishing deal itself, rather than a scoped fee for defined work.
Setting up a new “official” Chinese community over the fan groups that already exist, in the publisher’s own name.
A sales forecast presented as a promise, or any stated probability of licence approval.

Compare the money on one basis

Percentages are not comparable until they apply to the same revenue. Ask each candidate for a worked statement using the same assumptions: gross sales, Steam’s 30%, refunds, taxes, recoupable costs and the share applied to what remains. A lower headline share can cost more if it applies to a wider pool or allows more deductions. Revenue share models walks through the calculation with figures.

Also ask how and when you are paid: currency (write USD or GBP, never “dollars”), remittance timetable, who bears the 6% VAT withheld on royalties, and whether the publisher will supply tax certificates so you can credit the 10% withholding tax against your own. Confirm the treaty position with your accountant before you sign.

Make the decision and write it down

Choose the candidate with the best evidence, not the best pitch, and turn its proposal into contract terms: the team, the budget, the first-month plan, the reporting and the exit. Anything promised in a call but missing from the contract does not exist.

If no candidate scores well, waiting is a legitimate decision. A weak partner can tie up your China rights for years; a better-prepared approach in six months often costs less than that.

EightSix helps studios through exactly this decision: we build the shortlist, run the comparison on the same brief and negotiate the deal, and the studio makes the final choice. We are advisers, not a publisher, so we do not compete for your rights. The free assessment is the place to start.

Common questions

What should I look for in a China publishing partner?: A record with games like yours and evidence of what they did on each, a named Chinese-speaking team with time for your launch, a first-month marketing plan and budget in writing, commercial terms you can compare on the same revenue base, statements you can reconcile to Steamworks, and clear approval and exit rights.
Should I choose a Chinese publisher or a co-publishing service?: It depends on the route. A domestic release on Steam China, WeGame or the Chinese app stores needs a licensed Chinese publisher, because only a mainland publishing unit can file for approval. For an existing international Steam release, a co-publisher, paid suppliers or a Chinese publisher can all work, so compare them on the same brief.
How do I check that a Chinese publisher is legitimate?: Look up its registered Chinese name on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, check the NPPA approval lists for games it says it filed, speak to a developer reference about delivery, and ask to see real campaign output, a sample report and a clone takedown it has run.
What are the warning signs in a China publishing deal?: Requests to transfer the Steam app, share the main login or hand over source code; promises of a licence or full compliance without a written route; a revenue share on a vague base with uncapped recoupable costs; no named team; global rights or broad long-term exclusivity with no performance condition; and an upfront fee for the publishing deal itself.

Sources

Figures and rules in this guide come from the following. Where a figure is a practitioner estimate rather than a published rule, the text says so.