Sensor Tower’s latest report has revealed insight into last month’s top Chinese mobile publishers, finding that 37 of them were in the top 100 globally for revenue this October and that they accounted for 38.7% of the month’s global revenue.
In total, these publishers brought in $1.91 billion in revenue during the period.
Powerful publishers
Among October’s most successful publishers were the usual mobile winners NetEase and miHoyo, with the former’s Danzi Party marking its 10th consecutive month in the number two spot for daily active users. The game expanded its reach with a release in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in early September, leading to significant growth through October. NetEase’s Pig Man, meanwhile, grew in revenue by 47% and made its return to China’s top 10 best-selling iOS mobile games.
As for miHoYo, its mobile revenue grew 10% month-on-month with October becoming its second-biggest revenue generator of the year. Genshin Impact’s 4.1 update and Honkai: Star Rail reaching version 1.4 helped to drive this impressive increase, with October also marking the launch of its restaurant collaboration events and six months since Star Rail’s record-breaking release.
Naturally, Tencent also saw its share of success in October with Honor of Kings' eighth anniversary boosting revenue by 12% month-on-month.
Meanwhile, the new riser in China Diandian Interactive has continued to soar, maintaining rapid growth for 12 consecutive months and increasing Whiteout Survival’s revenue by a further 10% in October. The publisher’s overall revenue rose by 5% and set a new personal best, ranking in fourth among all Chinese publishers.
Rising games
And as for individual releases, Hortor Games’ casual Three Kingdoms card-based title King of Salted Fish saw incredible growth in October, increasing in revenue by 129% month-on-month and reaching October’s top three best-selling iOS games in China.
Another card placement game Toto Brave has been finding success too, launching in Japan in September and helping publisher Yihuan Network grow its revenue by 10%.
Finally, Goat Games’ Dungeon Hunter 6 is noteworthy for reaching the top of the iOS download charts in the United States and Germany on its release date, quickly becoming the publisher’s highest-grossing mobile game and doubling its overall revenue from September.
Overall, despite Sensor Tower's report showing growth among the top companies and games, collective revenue among Chinese publishers did fall in October, down from $1.96 billion in September when two more companies made the top 100.
