You have Caught the Gaming Industry at a Very Chinese Second in Its Life

On some corners of the web, younger folks have not too long ago taken to only-half-jokingly pining for a extra Chinese way of life, and never simply in celebration of the lunar new 12 months. They categorical this Sino-affinity by “Chinamaxxing,” which largely entails performative stereotypical actions like squatting whereas blasting cigs or singing the Fei Yu-Ching standard “A Spray of Plum Blossoms,” which had its personal viral second in 2024 when duetted by deepfaked Biden and Trump.

As with any fad practically previous its prime, youngsters saying “you met me at a very Chinese time in my life” was not too long ago unpacked by a wave of late-to-the-party legacy media thinkpieces. When not blathering on in regards to the meme development really being a calculated soft power grab, these reviews pivoted to headscratching over how Gen Z’s collective pining to be “saved by President Xi” and be part of the nation with a homeownership rate over 90% could possibly be something greater than “parody.” But it’s not simply Zoomers trying to flee the “American Century of Humiliation” for a extra affluent Chinese future.

Epyllion’s 2026 “State of Gaming” report, the annual breakdown by firm CEO Matthew Ball, painted a grim image for the trade general, which laid off one-third of its workforce in 2025 and has been dealing with a sharp decline in VC investments. As the SoG report notes, the one standout winner (moreover Roblox) on this in any other case bleak panorama is China, which was liable for 20% of worldwide participant spending in 2025 and boasts over 725 million gamers—greater than half its complete inhabitants.

However, 84% of the spending by Chinese gamers was despatched proper again to Chinese builders. While this has resulted within the growth of China’s home recreation trade, which accounted for 38% of the trade’s general development, the shift elicited a dire prognosis from Ball: “China is eating the video gaming industry.”

And it’s not simply the Chinese taking part in and paying for Chinese video games. Ball’s breakdown aligns with earlier commerce reporting that Chinese mobile games have come to dominate the North American market. Concurrently, US and UK-based cell builders are struggling to stay afloat, pointing to exorbitant Apple and Google app store fees and fewer paying users as chief amongst their struggles. Spare a thought for the poor addicts of freemium video games like Candy Crush who, as Ball notes within the report, have been pressured to cope with one more 12 months of premium foreign money inflation. Thanks quite a bit, Mandarin-speaking Biden and Trump!

Even the AAA video games market, as soon as dominated by the US and Japan and now more and more seen as a risky investment for funders and avid gamers alike, has been pressured to bend a knee to the power of Chinese market forces. China’s first huge AAA crossover hits with Western audiences have been 2020’s free-to-play open world RPG Genshin Impact and 2024’s Wuxia souls-like Black Myth: Wukong. In 2026 and past, avid gamers can anticipate to see much more high-budget fare exploring Chinese folklore and historical past of their favourite PC or console market. A number of upcoming examples which have already piqued the net gaming neighborhood’s curiosity: a recreation the place you play as a giant chicken that’s been described as a God of War/The Witcher mashup, and an FPS set in the Second Sino-Japanese War that appears possible to present the bombast and jingoism of the Call of Duty sequence a run for its cash.

If Ball’s evaluation bears out, Western builders and publishers do appear at the very least considerably doomed to undergo for his or her indolent and avaricious methods. The frequent gamer, at the very least, should still have a brilliant future forward of them and can certainly turn into a bit extra Chinese, whether or not they notice it or not.