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China Steam SignalsA monthly data index by EightSix Games

October 2026 editionData to

How much Chinese demand do new Steam games get?

Across 495 Steam games from outside China released in the last 90 days, one review in twelve is written in Simplified Chinese. Games that support the language have a median Chinese share eight times higher than games that do not, and Chinese reviewers rate most of these games lower than everyone else does.

Download the data (CSV)Cite this dataHow it was made

Language support is the dividing line

Share of each game’s Steam reviews written in Simplified Chinese. Each dot is one of 495 games from outside China released in the last 90 days with 200+ reviews.

Supports Simplified Chinese365 games

No Simplified Chinese130 games

Source: Steam store and review data, EightSix Games analysis.
of all Steam reviews on these games are written in Simplified Chinese
8.4%
median Chinese share with Simplified Chinese support, and without it
7.3% vs 0.9%
of 208 games with enough Chinese reviews are rated lower by Chinese players
86%
of the 153 most popular upcoming games from outside China list Simplified Chinese
63%

What this month’s data says

  1. 8.4% of all reviews on these 495 games are in Simplified Chinese. 141 games (28%) draw at least a tenth of their reviews from Chinese-language players, and 57 draw a fifth or more.
  2. Language support is the clearest dividing line. Games that list Simplified Chinese have a median Chinese review share of 7.3%; games without it have 0.9%. Most players do not cross a language barrier, so a missing translation largely caps Chinese demand rather than revealing it.
  3. Chinese players are harder to please. Of the 208 games with at least 50 Simplified Chinese reviews, 86% are rated lower by Chinese reviewers than by reviewers overall, by a median of 8 percentage points.
  4. The 22 games with a Chinese company among their Steam publishers have a median Chinese review share of 16.7%, against 4.4% for the rest.
  5. Japanese studios dominate the top of the share table, but Western games feature too: Kingdom Rush 6 (Ironhide, Uruguay) draws 69% of its reviews in Simplified Chinese and Servant of the Lake (Rusty Lake, Netherlands) 54%.
  6. Looking ahead, 63% of the 153 most popular upcoming games from outside China list Simplified Chinese, so more than a third of the next wave of likely hits are not yet planning for these players.

Chinese demand with no Chinese language

The highest Simplified Chinese review share among recent releases that do not support the language. These players bought and reviewed the game across a language barrier, which makes them the clearest case for a translation.

Highest Simplified Chinese review share without Simplified Chinese support
#GameReleasedReviewsSimplified Chinese shareSimplified Chinese?
1Touhou Koumakyou: Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise9 September 202621625.5%No
2Heroes Of Might And Magic IIIUbisoft, New World Computing25 August 202622419.2%No
320 More, Somehow Even Smaller, MazesFLEB17 September 20262,33710.7%No
4Brigador KillersStellar Jockeys, Gausswerks20 August 202670510.1%No
5BeastLinkGrove Street Games18 August 20262036.9%No
6GROUND BRANCHBlackFoot Studios, MicroProse Software16 July 202625,0906.4%No
7METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker - Master Collection VersionKONAMI27 August 20261,5085.3%No
8Broken Reality 2000Dynamic Media Triad27 July 20264075.2%No
9EverRailAesir Interactive20 July 20264164.3%No
10Expeditions: SamuraiCampfire Cabal7 August 20262974.0%No
Source: Steam store and review data, EightSix Games analysis.

Highest Simplified Chinese review share

Across all 495 games the median share is 5.0%. Games that support Simplified Chinese have a median of 7.3%, against 0.9% for those that do not.

Highest Simplified Chinese review share among recent releases
#GameReleasedReviewsSimplified Chinese shareSimplified Chinese?
1Old Market RestoredAlcedo Games16 September 202620480.9%Yes
2Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis TDIronhide Game Studio24 September 20264,65268.6%Yes
3The Dream Of A Cockspurroccay22 July 202640666.5%Yes
4STEINS;GATE RE:BOOTMAGES. Inc.19 August 20261,11663.6%Yes
5Three Kingdoms:BONDGet Wrapped Up Inc.13 July 202643260.9%Yes
6Trails in the Sky 2nd ChapterNihon Falcom16 September 20262,81259.2%Yes
7Memory of Memorie : A Chill StoryBeXide Inc.22 July 202631356.2%Yes
8Sengoku RanceAlicesoft1 October 202663654.1%Yes
9Creator ChroniclesOrigin Studio14 September 202674953.9%Yes
10Servant of the LakeRusty Lake13 August 20267,79753.8%Yes
11BLOODLETTERALDAMAMI GAMES17 August 202626852.6%Yes
12Village in the ShadeNippon Ichi Software, Inc.29 July 202683446.3%Yes
13Sister Other ParanoiaHazeDenki14 August 202670046.0%Yes
1430 Days On Ship: Castaway – The First DaysMadnetic Games S.A.13 August 202622644.3%Yes
15For the Fatherland: Chronicle of Park Chung-heeKMS STUDIO3 September 202623541.7%Yes
Source: Steam store and review data, EightSix Games analysis.

Games with a Chinese publishing partner

22 of the 495 games list a Chinese company among their Steam publishers, usually as a co-publisher alongside the studio.

With a Chinese partner (22 games)

16.7%

Without one (473 games)

4.4%
Median Simplified Chinese review share. Source: Steam store and review data, EightSix Games analysis.

This shows association, not cause. Partners tend to pick games that already travel well in China, so the gap is not what a partner adds.

Chinese players are harder to please

For the 208 games with at least 50 Simplified Chinese reviews: how far the Chinese approval rate sits from the overall rate. The median game is rated 8 points lower by Chinese reviewers. A large gap usually points to a fixable cause: translation, performance, price or communication.

86% of games are rated lower by Chinese reviewers, shown in violet left of the line

Source: Steam store and review data, EightSix Games analysis.

The widest gaps

Largest gap between Chinese and overall approval
#GameReleasedReviewsPositive, allPositive, ChineseGap
1Active MatterMatter Team15 September 20264,28379%34%−45 pts
2Echoes of MystraliaBorealys Games11 August 202673783%39%−44 pts
3Bomb FarmStream On28 August 202679065%24%−41 pts
4Tears of MetalPaper Cult22 July 20262,64286%46%−40 pts
5Brigador KillersStellar Jockeys, Gausswerks20 August 202670576%37%−39 pts
6Carnival HuntCrytivo, Beer Night Studio23 July 20262,72563%25%−37 pts
7ScavlandNoShadow4 September 20261,03384%47%−37 pts
8WanderburgRandwerk8 September 20263,27778%41%−37 pts
9DimraethMudtek15 September 20262,77578%42%−37 pts
10RuneScape: DragonwildsJagex Ltd15 September 202633,65781%44%−37 pts

The next wave

97 of the 153 most popular upcoming games from outside China on Steam list Simplified Chinese. The rest have not yet planned for these players.

Lists Simplified Chinese (97)Does not (56)

Each square is one game, in Steam’s popular upcoming order. Source: Steam store data, EightSix Games analysis.

Method and limits

Released games. Every game released on Steam between 12 July 2026 and 10 October 2026 with at least 200 reviews, taken from Steam’s store search sorted by release date. Review counts come from Steam’s public review API, filtered by language. 80 games developed in mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan are excluded, because their Chinese share measures a home audience rather than overseas demand. Games from outside China with a Chinese co-publisher stay in. The developer’s country was checked by hand for every game with a Simplified Chinese share of 15% or more; a further 68 whose studio location could not be confirmed are left out rather than guessed. Below 15%, origin is classified from the developer’s listing.

Upcoming games. The top of Steam’s “popular upcoming” list on the same day, excluding games from China, checked for Simplified Chinese in their listed languages.

Limits. Review share measures players who review, not all players, and Chinese players are widely observed to review more often, so it can overstate player share. It is not revenue: Steam’s recommended China prices sit well below exchange-rate parity. A game’s listed languages are taken as stated on its store page. Treat every figure as a demand signal, not a forecast.

Source
Public Steam store and review data
Window
12 July 2026 to 10 October 2026
Games
495 released, 153 upcoming
Excluded
80 from China, 68 unconfirmed
Updated
Monthly, around the 10th
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Using this data

Free to reuse, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0. Please credit EightSix Games and link to this page. For questions about the data, or a figure for a specific game or genre, email contact@eightsixgames.com.

EightSix Games, China Steam Signals, October 2026. https://eightsixgames.com/china-steam-signals

CSV, 495 rows