Open For Business
China lifts games licence freeze, 45 new games approved
New games from XD Inc, Yoozoo Games, and more after nine month standstill
Towering Over
Tencent games revenue up 9.9% in 2021 to almost $33 billion
Solidifies position as largest games company worldwide by revenue
Sonic Boom
SEGA announces Jinke as exclusive licensee of Sonic the Hedgehog mobile titles
Entertainment firm declared exclusive licensee of Sonic Dash and Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom in mainland China
Strong Growth
NetEase revenue jumps 19% to $13.75 billion, mobile games do $9.6 billion
Boosted by new titles such as Harry Potter: Magic Awakened and Revelation
Aspiring Aspirants
Moonton launches Mobile Legends: Bang Bang NFTs on Binance
Featuring popular MLBB characters Layla and Fanny
Sumo's Sold
Tencent closes acquisition of Sumo Group
Will operate under Tencent subsidiary, Tencent Bidco
Most Read
Hot Five: Former Zynga execs launch Dice: Heroes of Whitestone, Tencent raises $3 billion, and Roblox’s Chinese app removed from mainland stores
The hottest news articles on PG.biz
Roblox Retracted
Roblox removes Chinese app LuoBuLesi to rebuild
Removed from mainland app stores in December
Divestment
Tencent raises $3 billion from sale of Sea Group shares
Remains majority shareholder
No New Games
Freeze on games sees around 14,000 studios close in China in 2021
New games freeze expected to extend further into 2022
Power Restored
Tencent has app capabilities reinstated following ban
App updates spotted on App Store
Gallery Expansion
Socialpoint brings Dragon City and Monster Legends to Huawei’s AppGallery
Will gradually bring its remaining portfolio to the service
Tencent Suspension
China suspends Tencent from updating or launching apps in Mainland China
Apps and games remain functional
Financial Findings
Ten Square Games saw an increase in installs in Q3 2021
Fishing Clash launched in China
Domestic Disappointment
Tencent's international game revenue up 20% but local restrictions hit domestic growth
International revenues spurred by Clash of Clans and Valorant
Eyes On China
Swrve now gives Western mobile game devs a full picture of their performance in China
Swrve is fully operational in China on AWS
Bye-bye
China version of Fortnite is being shuttered
Playable test version had previously been live for almost three years
Terraria Triumphs Again
Terraria Mobile sells over one million units three week after Chinese debut
Will roll out to Greater China territories starting next year
U-turn
ByteDance lays off Ohayoo employees following CCP gaming crackdown
News follows restrictions on under 18s play time
Square Go
Poland's second-largest game developer Ten Square enters China on its tenth anniversary
In just one week, Poland's second-largest game developer bought an Italian development studio, was granted a license to trade in China AND celebrated its tenth anniversary
Magical Launch
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened gives NetEase its first Tencent-beater since 2016
It's the biggest game of 2021 in China
News
Zynga closes $525 million StarLark acquisition, expands portfolio with Golf Rival
Zynga’s international footprint expands with a studio in China
No Play
No new games were approved for release in China during August or September
Banhammer is swinging
Making An Impact
Genshin Impact generates $2 billion on mobile in its first year
China, Japan and US are top three spenders
Just Magic
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened's perfect launch: it's China's top grossing mobile game
Coming to other Asian countries later in 2021
Bigger Boost
New update boosts Genshin Impact spending 5x to $151 million in 7 days
Floating World Under the Moonlight is a winner
Order Up, China
Tilting Point partners with Huya to bring SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off to China
44 million downloads and counting
Still Surviving
State of Survival passes 100 million downloads
FunPlus' game two years on
Circumventing Regulations
Chinese websites already allowing kids to avoid age-time restrictions
Rent Honor of Kings accounts from $5 for two hours
Joyless Juveniles
China’s youth criticise government’s new regulations
Teens took to Weibo to voice frustrations
Continued Growth
NetEase sees Q2 2021 profits rise 14% to $1.7 billion
Prepped to launch Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings IP
Clamping Down
China limits under 18s to three hours online gaming a week
New regulations prevent minors from playing games Monday through Thursday
China Syndrome
Mobile Mavens: Reaction to China's new restrictions on children gaming
Only three hours a week
Magic Or Muggle
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened launches in China this September
The game takes place several years after the events of the films
Youth No Go
Tencent Q2 2021 mobile game revenue up 13% to $6.3 billion
Company is also cracking down on young players' activity
Big Brother Is Watching
Tencent forewarns of increased regulations and restrictions in China
The company expressed intent to remain fully compliant with future regulations
Hail Satin
Louis Vuitton's mobile NFT game hits 500,000 downloads in first week
"China is the biggest market to date driving downloads..."
Quality Inbound
Nexon highlights new games as Q2 2021 sales decline 21% to $510 million
Waiting for new blood to emerge
Closed Beta
Tencent and Bandai Namco soft launch Digimon: New Century
The upcoming RPG has been in development for three years
Rivals No More
Zynga acquires Golf Rival developer StarLark for $525 million
Also completes Chartboost deal
Cracking Down
Tencent stock falls by $60 billion following criticism from state media
Honor of Kings set to be implemented with new constraints
Survive And Trade
NetEase soft-launches survival shooter Lost Light
Available on Google Play in New Zealand, Australia, Germany and the UK
Seeking Head Of Studio
Riot Games set to open new studio in China
The League of Legends creator plans to expand its reach
Super Hire
10 Supercell jobs to apply for this week
Job vacancies from several of Supercell’s offices
Dead Sales
Dead Cells mobile has surpassed two million units in China
Five months after launching in the country
Pgc Digital #7
PGC Digital: How unceasing QA testing increases mobile game profitability
WeTest’s Connie Fu and Gunther Gong explain the importance of continued QA testing
Crazy
CrazyLabs partners with Huawei to bring four new games to AppGallery
The move follows the success of previous titles added to the marketplace
Making Of
Why NetEase believes Frostpunk is different to every other game on the market
NetEase producer Chao Luo on bringing the PC giant to mobile
Face The Consequences
Tencent rolls out facial recognition to restrict children gaming at night
The system will lock young users out of games late in the evening
Rabbids Galore
China approves 43 games including Black Desert Mobile, Sonic Olympics and Rabbids Adventure Party
Marvel Duel, Mario Rabbids, Dynasty Warriors: Unleashed and more