AI set to bring significant breakthroughs in game development over next 12 months, says Unity China VP

Pocket Gamer Connects, the leading international conference series for the global games industry, returns to London on January 19th to 20th, 2026. 

The must-attend conference will bring together 3,000 delegates from 70+ countries, including decision makers from key international games hubs across the globe. Companies set to join the show include Supercell, Epic Games, Duolingo, CD Projekt Red, Tencent, PlayStation, EA, AppLovin, TikTok and many more.

PGC London will host 32 tracks across two days, including at the Apps Business Summit (January 19th) and the Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit (January 20th).

One of the speakers set to join the conference is Unity China vice president Wei Wang.

Wang has extensive experience in gaming, electronic communications, VR, and live broadcasting. He was previously responsible for R&D and team management at the Lenovo Research Institute and Beiwei Communications, where he founded the AppMedia mobile advertising platform and Fengchao Games.

He served at Xiaomi Games as the overseas head, building an overseas team from scratch and launching numerous products. He then worked as an on-site entrepreneur at IDG Capital, focusing on TMT, AR, VR, and the metaverse.

He founded Sevenga and RGBVR, leading game development and VR live streaming operations. He joined Unity as vice president of products in 2022.

Wang will be hosting the session entitled 'Bring Your Games To China—Unity China Publish Service' on the Global Trends track. Attendees for the talk will learn about the company's tailored solutions for localisation, compliance, and monetisation, and how Unity China leverages strategic partnerships to ensure games can find success in the country's games market.

We caught up with Wang ahead of the show to discuss the opportunities in China's games market and the significant role AI will play in the industry's future.

PocketGamer.biz: If you could give other mobile games companies one piece of advice, what would it be?

Wei Wang: Pay closer attention to the Chinese market - it's even larger than the US and well worth the focus.

China also has unique technology platforms: mini-games and Open Harmony, both of which are technically distinct.

 The mini-game market is expected to exceed $10 billion this year and is growing at over 30% annually. Open Harmony is also projected to surpass 100 million daily active users by 2026.

Where are the next big opportunities in the mobile games market?

The application of AI in development will significantly reduce the difficulty and cost of creating games.

Additionally, newly emerging web-based mini-game platforms represent a massive incremental market, attracting a large number of new users who are not traditional gamers.

What is your biggest aspiration/goal in mobile gaming? 

To become a bridge connecting developers in China and overseas. Due to unique regulatory requirements, the Chinese market differs in many ways from Western markets, and user habits also vary.

Furthermore, server infrastructure requires special attention, often necessitating local deployment.

The mobile space evolves at a much faster pace than console and PC gaming, but is there a console or PC trend that you think has potential within the mobile space?

In China, PC games have experienced rapid development in recent years. Core gamers prefer PC games, as people have more leisure time, and PC games offer a better experience. Moreover, there are more and more PC game developers in China, giving players more choices.

What key trend should we be paying attention to in the next 12 months?

AI-assisted development. Companies like Unity are actively advancing in this direction.

Drawing parallels to the progress in AI-generated video, the next 12 months may bring significant breakthroughs in the field of game development.