Niko Partners: Chinese video games market surpasses $50bn for the primary time in 2025

China’s video games market surpassed $50 billion for the primary time in 2025, rising 5.4% year-on-year to $51.8 billion.

A new report from Niko Partners initiatives the market will develop 4% in 2026 to $53.9 billion, and attain $59.8 billion by 2030, reflecting a five-year CAGR of two.9%.

China’s participant base is anticipated to achieve 769 million by 2030, with common weekly playtime rising to fifteen.8 hours from 14.1 hours final yr.

Niko Partners attributed the rise in income and gamers to “stronger-than-expected performance from both newly launched titles and legacy evergreen games.”

Mini-games are a “major growth segment,” with 80% of Chinese gamers participating within the style, which represents nearly 20% of cellular sport spending.

Nearly half of gamers use brief video apps to find new video games and data throughout platforms.

The report additionally highlights that 66% of Chinese gamers use various methods to bypass the country’s internet censorship. Among respondents, 30.8% play on international servers, 33.6% use gaming accelerators, and 21.9% use VPNs.

Earlier this yr, China included video video games in its 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-2030). Games had been beforehand categorised as digital cultural merchandise.

Niko Partners recognized 5 key tendencies for China’s video games market over the subsequent 5 years: development in area of interest genres, elevated out-of-app monetisation, regulatory enhancements, greater client spending on premium PC and console titles, and the mixing of generative AI.

The agency famous that Chinese video games firms are “rapidly embracing generative AI across development pipelines and player-facing features,” together with a “broader boom” in user-generated content material platforms.

While the speedy enlargement of generative AI infrastructure has pushed demand for RAM and semiconductor elements, Niko Partners mentioned that “ongoing innovation, regulatory clarity, and robust player engagement continue to support long-term market growth” in China.