China games market statistics for Western developers.

annual games revenue in China

RMB 300bn+

CGIGC annual industry report, 2024 data; about three-quarters of it mobile

players in China

~670m

CGIGC annual industry report, 2024 data

Steam users with Simplified Chinese as primary language

33.7%

Largest language on 2024 annual data, ahead of English at 33.5% (Valve, GDC 2025) [1]

The market-size figures describe a mostly mobile, mostly domestic industry that a Western studio reaches only through a licensed publisher. The Steam figure is the one that describes demand a Western PC studio can reach directly: on Valve’s 2024 annual data Simplified Chinese edged out English as the most common primary language on Steam.[1] The monthly survey swings, so quote the annual figure only. Around Spring Festival the monthly count of Chinese Steam users roughly doubles.[24]

of all reviews in Simplified Chinese

8.4%

Across 495 tracked games [25]

median Chinese review share with Simplified Chinese support

7%

Against 1% without it

rated lower by Chinese reviewers than overall

86%

Median gap 8 points, of 208 games with 50+ Chinese reviews

of upcoming releases list Simplified Chinese

63%

Of 153 wishlisted upcoming games

The index is free to cite under CC BY 4.0 and ships as a CSV. The full edition ranks the games by Chinese review share, lists the best-received games with no Chinese support, and shows the approval-gap distribution.

imported games approved in 2022, 2023 and 2024

44 / 98 / 110

Xinhua [2]

imported games approved in 2025

95

Of 1,771 approvals in total (Niko Partners) [3]

imported approvals, January to September 2026

46

Against 1,525 domestic approvals [4]

statutory review period for an imported game

80 working days

Practitioners report 10 to 15 months end to end with one to three rounds of modification notices [5]

Official NPPA fees are nil. One lawyer-authored guide estimates publisher service fees of RMB 50,000 to 100,000 and legal and notarisation costs of RMB 30,000 to 80,000, with localisation and content changes the largest and least predictable item.[6] Treat those as vendor figures. Steam China itself listed roughly 368 approved games by December 2025.[1] The route, the application and who can file are in the licence guide.

reviews overall and in a language before Steam shows a separate score

2,000 / 200

Language-specific review scores, since August 2025 [7]

refund rate in China against elsewhere on one indie launch

25% vs 10%

Gods vs Horrors post-mortem [11]

Chinese against overall review score on the same game

69% vs 94%

Gods vs Horrors; Chinese scores run lower across the board [11]

The recurring triggers for a Chinese review drop are a balance change in early access, forced accounts or region locks, translation register rather than accuracy, silent changes to a translation players already knew, price, and any public remark that blames Chinese players. The response that has worked is a Chinese-language statement from the studio’s own account.[15] See what Chinese players want.

per word, Simplified Chinese translation

EUR 0.09 to 0.12

Vendor rate card [21]

per word from Chinese vendors

From USD 0.06

Vendor quotes on developer forums, 2026

per hour, linguistic QA

EUR 34

Vendor rate card [21]

A commercial Chinese font can cost over USD 10,000; Source Han Sans is the licensed open alternative. Scope, register and testing are in the localisation guide.

Public cases of Western mobile games entering China since 2023 are thin and mostly vendor-written. The route, the technical constraints and the terms are in the mini-games guide and on the mobile publishing page.

withholding tax on royalties paid out of China

10%

Treaty position depends on your country [19]

VAT withheld on the royalty

6%

Ask who bears it before you sign

Ask the publisher for tax certificates so the withholding can be credited against your own tax, and confirm the treaty position with your accountant. The arithmetic is in the revenue share guide.