Not only is China one of the largest markets for mobile gaming, it's also one of the most dynamic.
There's the broad shift from feature phones (and no phones at all) to a potentially billion-strong smartphone market.
More specifically for games, the PC client and browser market is transitioning to mobile, while the lack of Google Play as a distribution channel for Android content has resulted in an explosion in local app stores.
For these reasons, and more, the Chinese market is a heady and ever-changing mix, which is why PocketGamer.biz has hooked up with GameGrapes (aka Youxiputao) to bring you a weekly digest of the freshest and most tasty Chinese mobile gaming news.
Following in Microsoft's footsteps, Sony will be launching PlayStation 4 in China.
State-run outfit Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co. has announced it's signed a deal with Sony to form two joint ventures in Shanghai to produce and sell PlayStation consoles and software in China.
As part of the deal, the companies have promised to release positive games and focus on Chinese cultural themes. They will also work closely with local game developers.
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Interesting and cute, Ninja Must Die 2 impresses
NetEase's Yixin's platform isn't mentioned as often as WeChat but it's just witnessed a nice release.
Ninja Must Die 2Â is a 2D parkour game with eastern comic art style. It's one tap control makes it easy to learn and handle.
Players are able to improve their characters in three ways: better power ups, better weapons or better pets.
Another highlight is if your character is killed, you can revive it using coins, also gaining the opportunity to change the character you were using. This means that even if you're playing a beginner's level, you have chance to use a locked character for a short time.
3
DOTA Legend does $2 million via UC Browser
UCWeb, the company behind the popular Android browser UC Browser, has released some data concerning its app distribution during April.
It was no surprise that the biggest new entry was DOTA Legend which generated around $2 million (RMB 12 million).
When it comes to single-player games, however, its top 10 chart continues to be dominated by branded games, especially those using characters from cartoons or movies and TV.
One such example is a game based on the Where Are We Going, Dad? series from Hunan TV.
Yet April did see one breakthrough.
Touch: Dancing is the sequel to Love Dancing Online, which has a strong social element, enabling players to dance with their friends.
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Shanda adds PVP to bring Sega's Chain Chronicle to China
Having experienced great success with Square Enix's Million Arthur, Shanda is back licensing Japanese mobile games.
Its latest release is Sega's Chain Chronicle.
The game has previously been successful in Japan, with its mixture of tower defense and card collection and cool art style, gaining over one million downloads.
And Shanda has localised the game for the Chinese market, adding a PvP system; something that's required by the highly competitive Chinese players.
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Tencent to bring Puzzle & Dragons to China
The top grossing game per player in the world, GungHo's Puzzle & Dragons is now officially coming to China.
At least that's the rumour, with Tencent thought to have won the rights to publish the game.
The deal won't be without its challenges, however.
Most obvious is that some Chinese players have been playing the Japanese version and they won't be able to migrate their accounts.
More subtle is that when it was released, Puzzle & Dragons provided a novel combination of match-3 and combat; something that has been copied by many Chinese games in the months and years since its release.
Hence, the question to be answered is does the original still possess the brand and gameplay to win over current Chinese gamers?
PocketGamer.biz regularly posts content from a variety of guest writers across the games industry. These encompass a wide range of topics and people from different backgrounds and diversities, sharing their opinion on the hottest trending topics, undiscovered gems and what the future of the business holds.
