Partnerships
How to Find a Chinese Co-Publisher for Your Game
Find Chinese co-publishers through the games they have already published, not through directories or inbound pitches: search Steam’s publisher field for Chinese publishers of games like yours, then check each one in Chinese-language sources, where most of them actually live. Then test the team and the proposal behind the catalogue. The aim is a partner who can say what it would do for your game in the first month after launch and commit to it in writing.
- Author
- EightSix Games
- Revised
- Reading time
- 7 min read
In short
- Start from comparable games on Steam and read the publisher field. A publisher’s own site is often thin or Chinese-only; its Steam catalogue and Bilibili account are the real record.
- Absence from Google says nothing about a Chinese company. Check indienova, TapTap, Bilibili and the national company register before writing anyone off.
- A publisher credit tells you nothing about who did the work. Ask what the candidate did on each title, and for a developer you can phone.
- Send every shortlisted candidate the same brief and the same questions, then score the answers, not the presentation.
In this guide
01
Prepare a brief a publisher can answer
A Chinese publisher cannot judge fit from “we are interested in China”. Give them what they need to say yes or no quickly, and nothing they do not need yet.
- The Steam page, genre, release stage and planned timing.
- Current language support, and whether Simplified Chinese has shipped. Several Chinese PC publishers only sign games that have not yet launched in Chinese, because the launch moment is what they sell.
- Which conversation this is: international Steam, a licensed domestic release, or mobile. They need different partners.
- What help you want: localisation, creators and Heybox, community, enforcement against clones, or all of it.
- Public signals: Simplified Chinese review share, comparable games. Studio data such as regional wishlists from Steamworks can follow once there is mutual interest, with its date range attached.
Do not start by sending credentials, a build or unrestricted access. A candidate should be able to explain its initial fit from a concise brief. Not sure which kind of partner your route needs? Start with how to choose a China publishing partner.
02
Where to look
Steam’s publisher field on comparable games
Find five to ten games close to yours in genre, price and scope that have a large Simplified Chinese review share, and read who published them. Chinese PC publishers appear here under names that are often English and often unfamiliar. Their Steam publisher page lists the rest of the catalogue, which is the fastest way to see whether they work with developers outside China and in your genre.
The publisher’s Bilibili account
Most active Chinese PC publishers run an official Bilibili channel. It shows how they present games, whether they post about their overseas developers, and how large an audience they bring. A publisher with no Bilibili presence is unusual and worth asking about.
indienova and TapTap
indienova is China’s main indie games community and hosts publisher accounts and blogs; TapTap carries mobile and some PC listings. A publisher that is invisible to Google can be entirely legitimate and active here.
The NPPA approval lists
If the route is a licensed domestic release, the NPPA’s monthly approval lists name the publishing entity for each imported game (nppa.gov.cn). A publisher that says it has filed imported games either appears there or does not.
Chinese trade press and industry events
GameRes, GameLook, 游戏陀螺 and Gamersky cover publisher signings and results in Chinese. BilibiliWorld and ChinaJoy in July, and WePlay in Shanghai, are where Chinese publishers meet developers in person.
03
Verify the company, then trace the work
Chinese companies are listed on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn), which shows the registered name, status and legal representative. Ask for the registered Chinese name and look it up. A Western-facing brand name may belong to a different legal entity from the one that would sign.
Then separate the credit from the contribution. A publisher credit does not tell you who handled translation, which team ran the campaign or whether the work resembles what you need. For two or three recent comparable games, ask what the candidate did on each: who translated, who tested in the build, which creators it reached and how, what the Heybox and Bilibili activity looked like, and what the first report to the developer contained. Request examples you can inspect: localised materials, campaign output, a sample report with confidential figures removed.
Ask for a developer reference you can speak to, with permission, and ideally one whose game underperformed. Talk about delivery, communication and how problems were resolved, not whether they were happy. A catalogue size is a starting point for questions, not a quality score.
04
Meet the people who would do the work
Ask who owns the relationship after signing, and meet the campaign or localisation lead where relevant. Establish how much of their time is available and which work is subcontracted. The questions that separate a working team from a sales team:
- Which releases compete for your attention in our launch window?
- How are translations reviewed in the build, and by whom?
- Who approves spending, and who tells us when something changes?
- What will the first report contain, and can we see the underlying evidence?
- Which creators and platforms would you use for this genre in the first month, and why?
- Show us a Douyin or TapTap clone takedown you have run, and how long it took.
A clear answer with limits is worth more than an assurance that the publisher can handle everything.
05
Give shortlisted candidates the same questions
Compare a written scope, named team, timetable, committed budget, commercial structure and reporting commitment. Mark anything unconfirmed as unconfirmed. A proposal with missing costs should not look cheaper because it says less.
| Ask each candidate | A good answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Territory and exclusivity | Mainland China only, with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan named; non-exclusive on Steam; global rights never |
| Revenue definition | Net of Steam’s 30%, refunds, VAT and withholding, stated in writing, with every recoupable cost listed before the term sheet |
| What they need from you | A build and store access by task permission. A request for source code or an app transfer ends the conversation for a Steam Global deal |
| Reporting | Monthly statements you can reconcile to Steamworks, with an audit right |
| Community | Who owns and moderates the Chinese channels, in whose name, and what happens to them at the end |
| Term and exit | A sell-off period and reversion triggers: no launch within an agreed window, or revenue below a floor; localisation assets revert with the rights |
| Pricing | Who sets the China price, against which benchmark, and a commitment not to change the discount ladder after launch |
| Payment | Currency stated, remittance timetable, who bears the 6% VAT, tax certificates supplied |
Ask each candidate what could change its recommendation. That exposes assumptions about the build, the release date or the audience before they turn into disputes.
06
Negotiate the working relationship
Settle territory, platforms, term, exclusivity, revenue definitions, allowable costs, approval rights, access and exit before anyone drafts. Then have the final contract reviewed against the negotiated deal, including how disputes and missed commitments are handled. Anything promised in a call but missing from the contract does not exist.
For Steam work, agree individual access around the tasks required. Valve’s Steamworks permission model distinguishes localisation, marketing and financial access; they should never be bundled into one request. Ask the publisher to register your trademark and copyright in China in your name, as your agent, because China is a first-to-file jurisdiction.
EightSix builds and checks the shortlist, runs the comparison on the same brief and supports the negotiation. We do not promise a publisher offer or appoint a partner on your behalf; your studio makes the final decision, and our revenue-share guide shows how to read the numbers you will be offered.
Q
Common questions
- How do I find Chinese publishers for my genre?
- Look at comparable games on Steam with a large Simplified Chinese review share and read the publisher field, then open each publisher’s Steam page and Bilibili account to see the rest of the catalogue. For a licensed domestic release, the NPPA’s monthly approval lists name the publishing entity for every imported game.
- How do I check a Chinese publisher is real?
- Ask for the registered Chinese company name and look it up on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn). Then check Chinese-language sources, including indienova, TapTap and Bilibili, rather than Google. Speak to a developer they have published, with permission.
- Should I pay a Chinese co-publisher up front?
- A co-publisher is normally paid from its share of China revenue, not by an upfront fee from you; some offer advances or minimum guarantees to developers rather than the other way round. A request for an upfront fee for the publishing deal itself, as opposed to a scoped fee for defined work, is a warning sign.
S
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.