Tiktok Ban
US faces prospect of TikTok ban as House of Representatives passes bill
State due to vote on bill
Mobile Games Adaptation
MiHoYo green lights Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail movies with government backing
The projects aim to elevate Shanghai into a premier “city of film'' within three years, positioning it as a key destination for film production
Profit Power
ByteDance profits reportedly rise 60%, surpassing Chinese competitor Tencent
ByteDance has been pulling back from gaming after TikTok has played a greater role in the company’s surging revenues and profit
Microsoft's Might
Microsoft saves the day: Activision Blizzard games are set to return to China in new NetEase deal
The untimely end of Activision Blizzard and NetEase’s deal meant that games such as Overwatch and World of Warcraft have spent over a year offline in China
Age Of Mobile
How TiMi Studio and World's Edge are adapting Age of Empires for mobile
PocketGamer.biz speaks to TiMi Studio Group GM Brayden Fan and producer Robin Xin about the strategy game's development
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from bad botanists to bunny befrienders
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Iteration Inspiration
Report: Tencent's top studios developing Palworld-like mobile games
TiMi and Lightspeed studios are reportedly developing mobile games inspired by Palworld
Team Tencent
Tencent "focusing on fewer bigger budget games" as it shifts away from IP strategy
Publishing giant moves Assassin's Creed Jade team to DreamStar as part of new focus on internal products and fewer big franchise bets
Revenue Rivals
Honkai: Star Rail’s monthly revenue doubles while Genshin Impact slips back
miHoYo’s two biggest games generated a combined $180.3 million on mobile in February
Netease Nets A Win
Eggy Party helps drive NetEase games revenue up 9.4% to $11.5 billion in 2023
NetEase generated $11.5 billion from video games in 2023
Data Deluge
Mobile game downloads fell for the first time ever in 2023 to 88 billion
The Indian market downloaded over double the mobile games of any other region, but didn’t make the top 20 for spending
Tencent Turnaround
China approves 32 overseas licences including Nexon and Tencent’s Mobile DnF
While an unstable landscape for games, China continues to prove a lucrative one
Gaming Trends
China at the forefront of mobile gaming as global market hits $85.76 billion
China's gaming dominance is bolstered by Tencent Games, a revenue powerhouse contributing 100 billion yuan ($14.13 billion)
China Regulations
China greenlights 115 games in January, largest batch in 18 months
Tencent, Lilith Games and others have had their titles approved this month
China Regulations
Stock prices jump as China backtracks on gaming restrictions
Stock values of major Chinese gaming firms such as Tencent and NetEase recover as deadlines pass and China's gaming clampdown evaporates - for now
Winning The War
My.Games' War Robots returns to China
Following a loss of licence in 2021 which it won back in 2023, a new deal with publisher iDreamSky now sees the game return to one of its top three markets
Tencent Tumble
Tencent's external investments have dropped 87% in two years
From healthcare to AI start-ups, the number of Tencent investments in external companies decreased from 299 in 2021 to just 39 in 2023
Enhanced Player Safety
NetEase Games introduces regulation appeasing ‘Minor Mode' across all products
The move could indicate that the company expects rapid and random Chinese legislation to continue
The Greatest Genres
RPGs dominate consumer spending, generating 30% of all 2023 mobile game revenue
data.ai’s new report reveals reveals that the genre generated $24.5 billion - a huge 30% of revenues - from only 3% of total game downloads
Regional Revenues
China and US accounted for more than 50% of the $107 billion spent on mobile games in 2023
data.ai’s latest report reveals all about regional revenue and download differences
Hot Five
Hot Five: Tencent’s newest gameplan, PlatinumGames’ pullout, and investing into Indian Esports
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news, including the end of service for Kim Kardashian, 2024's AI ambitions and the future of gacha in China
Purchase Power
Tencent sells app store to Huya ahead of Chinese crackdown
Tencent has been selling up and parting ways with its animation company. Now an app store leaves its stable.
Gacha Glimpse
Genshin Impact, Fate/Grand Order, Goddess of Victory: Nikke… How would the big gachas fare with a China ban?
As Chinese regulations scrutinise gacha mechanics, are the genre’s biggest players making enough elsewhere?
Passing The Buck
Top Chinese official removed following gaming crackdown confusion
Top publicity official Feng Shixin has been relieved of his duty after the release of work-in-progress tighter gaming regulations wiped $80 billion from top Chinese gaming stocks
Appchievement
Chinese game licence approvals surpassed 1,000 in 2023 in return to form
The total more than doubled 2022’s approval numbers
Update
China's latest gaming crackdown: What's new and what it means for mobile's biggest game makers
The introduction of spending limits and bans on everything from regular login rewards to gacha gaming mechanics have thrown China's gaming giants into chaos
Tumble Guys
Tencent and NetEase lose $80 billion in market value as China cracks down on game monetisation tactics
New rules prohibit daily login rewards, first-time purchase bonuses and rewards for repeat spend
Esports Glory
China's Wolves wins $1 million Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship
Runner-up GodLike becomes most successful Indian team in the competition after finishing second
Impressive Growth
China's gaming industry bounces back with over $42.6 billion in domestic revenue
The Red Dragon's video games market has successfully bounced back, overcoming challenges in foreign markets
Support From Supercell
Supercell co-founder supports $1.6M funding round in Chinese publisher MyGamez
Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja, Small Giant Games co-founder Timo Soininen, Reworks co-founder Ilkka Teppo and former Riot China head of operations Daniel Wang are on board
Highest Earners
Chinese mobile publishers see an end of year revenue turnaround despite industry challenges
Tencent dominates, but other publishers are also finding success with Chinese companies holding 37 of the top 100 global revenue rankings for November
Dance The Blues
Crunch time for ByteDance's gaming ambitions
Big tech pulls back from gaming again
1999 Reasons To Play
Bluepoch’s debut time travel game Reverse: 1999 reaches $15 million
The latest Chinese gacha game is coming out of stealth with impressive early figures
Predicting Prosperity
China’s gaming rebound is go and on track for $47.8 billion revenue this year
Niko Partners projects a 5.2% YoY rise in gaming revenue
Meta Manoeuvres
Tencent backs Meta’s VR push into China after a 14 year ban
Meta and Tencent are teaming up to bring a new lower-spec VR headset to China, pitched between Quest 2 and 3
Uk Acquisitions
BFI: More than 50% of UK games developers are now owned by overseas entities
The US accounts for 49% of overseas transactions followed by China’s 15%
Publishing Power
Top Chinese publishers accounted for 38.7% of October’s mobile revenue
Tencent, NetEase and miHoYo continue to triumph and Goat Games rises up the ranks
Mobile Report
China generated over $42 billion in mobile user spend in 2023
Mobile ad spend is projected to hit $362 billion this year
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from time travelling Brits to cat rescuers
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Sales Success
Bilibili passes 300m monthly users as Dead Cells hits five million Chinese sales
Five million paid installs in two years, with a big boost this August
Roblox Reduction
Roblox China faces layoffs as the company undergoes "evaluation"
It's safe to say that the launch of the Chinese version of Roblox, LuoBuLesi, didn’t quite go to plan
Trends
Chinese gaming trends revealed as 52% of the population play games
Trends, censorship, approvals, mixed genre games and more come under the microscope
Dirty Deals?
Apple sacks App Store staff in China over potential deals with game developers
Free meals, nightclub outings and more were offered to iOS app store staff
China Vs Apple
Tim Cook makes a surprise appearance at Chinese Honor of Kings tournament
The unexpected live appearance comes amid a turbulent period for Apple’s relations with China
China
Swedish-based Flamebait Games sees pay-to-play mobile title Passepartout receive 100k downloads in China
The ISBN licence for the game apparently took almost four years
Industry Investigations
India arrests Vivo smartphone executives in latest China retaliation
Vivo has previously come under investigation in a money laundering probe
September Success
China’s top publishers generated $1.96 billion this September
39 out of 100 top publishers were based in China last month
An Apple A Day
Apple's App Store steps into line to comply with Chinese regulations
The company has previously come under fire for the Chinese government, but it appears it's ready to play ball
Alternative App Stores
Who are the 26 app stores complying with China’s latest regulations?
The country’s latest crackdown has seen alternative app stores become even more prominent in the Chinese market