In fact, “Project Hail Mary” is beating “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” in China, and it will end up making more money than the Mario film in this particular market.

After 1 week, Mario Galaxy made a little over US$11 Million at the local box office, with estimates now pointing to $23M by the end of its run.
Hail Mary already made more than $30M (in 20 days), and is expected to earn approximately $35M when all is said and done.

Respectable numbers for Mario, but relatively low considering the film will likely reach over $1B globally, and the first one made over $1.3B worldwide. Arguably, it’s a flop in China.
The first Super Mario Movie had a better run in the country (raking in more than $25M), but also failed to become a major hit in China. In that regard, we could consider the sequels’ results predictable and not surprising.

Project Hail Mary on the other hand got a lot of positive word-of-mouth after its debut in China, and that gave it an extra boost in momentum, even expanding its initial box-office estimates.

Explaining Super Mario’s “Failure” in China

Let me start by admitting I think the issue is complex and difficult, and I don’t have a perfect answer. Perhaps not even a remotely right one (for both movies).

Super Mario is a very well known IP in the country. It’s recognizable at least. That much is clear. I actually wrote a couple of threads before on Twitter when the first (modern) Super Mario Movie came out trying to explain why it flopped in China back then. You can read them here, and here.

Many people will say Mario games just haven’t been particularly popular in China and that explains it, but I don’t fully agree.

It’s true that from Mario 64 up to the Mario Galaxy titles, the games didn’t have great exposure in China (for many different reasons, but mostly the big console ban), BUT, almost every millennial in the country played or at least saw people playing bootleg versions of Super Mario Bros (NES) during the 90s and early 2000s. It is a generational staple among many millions of people in the nation!
Beyond that, the Switch has been extremely successful and popular in China, with a lot of its gamers (younger and older) being exposed to more recent Mario games available on the console. Bottom line is, Mario as a character is not obscure or niche! In China, or virtually anywhere in the world really.

So, why don’t Mario movies click with Chinese audiences? I think it’s fundamentally a marketing issue.

IMO, the movies should have been better marketed towards millennials, and just have better marketing in general in the Chinese market. Fact is, marketing efforts for the Mario Galaxy Movie have been overall very discreet in the country, and failed to capture people’s attention.

I know it’s easy to just blame marketing, but I honestly can’t think of a better practical/visible reason for this one. It’s hard for me to explain or demonstrate it with data, but as someone living in China, I can use the example of Zootopia 2.
That movie was EVERYWHERE when it debuted in China. Marketing was all over the place! Whether people wanted to watch the movie or not, they would at least be aware of it! And sure enough, the film ended up being a gigantic hit in China, grossing more than US$600M (I’m not saying good marketing alone guarantees box office results, obviously!). Sure, that marketing investment was informed by the success of the first movie in China. It was, presumably, a safe bet.

The same could be said for the Mario Galaxy Movie: the first movie failed to set China on fire, and therefore distributors thought it wouldn’t be wise to invest too much in promoting the sequel. That’s what happened, and why marketing for the second movie was so quiet in China, and why results are even worse than they were with the first movie (which had more marketing).

The movie even debuted during the Qing Ming Holidays by the way, which this year coincided with an extended weekend that gave most people a day off on Monday! Even that didn’t help. It just wasn’t enough...

(Box office data for China provided by reliable tracker Maoyan Pro)

Crimson Desert had a big launch, huge pre-launch widespread hype, and arguably became a cultural and social benchmark for South Korean game development as a whole (more than Stellar Blade, imo).
After the initial commercial success of Crimson Desert (allegedly 5M+ units and growing by the time of this writing) I think some Chinese studios will try to make something similar in the future.

Difference is, the Chinese games will be F2P, more polished, and technically better executed. Also, cross-platform including mobile, and reach dozens of million more players than most premium games can.

Come back to this in 3 years and we’ll see…

Bold Claim? Perhaps you Haven’t Been Paying Attention…

It’s a wild take to say Chinese studios will release games like Crimson Desert as F2P, IF we ignore everything coming out of Chinese devs in the last 6+ years.

Before Genshin Impact (2020), most people would say a game like that being F2P was an impossible wild take. And then, it happened: an open-world Breath of the Wild-like story-driven RPG with high production values that didn’t block progress behind microtransactions, free to play.

It cannot be overstated how much of a paradigm shift that game represented for mobile games in particular, but also the whole industry. I say very confidently that if Genshin Impact had been released as a premium $60 game when it launched, it would have still been successful and sold anywhere between 2 to 5 million copies in its first year, at least. Instead, it released as a F2P game rivaling many premium games in features and content, and reaching more than 140 million players worldwide.

And then we got Naraka, Wuthering Waves, Where Winds Meet, ZZZ, Infinity Nikki, etc, etc, and many more across different genres. We also have more currently in development like Ananta or Neverness to Everness that absolutely shatter expectations regarding what we were used to see from F2P titles.

Chinese studios and publishers have been changing the playbook and redefining the value that consumers expect from videogames. So yes, I understand that expecting something like Crimson Desert (and I don’t necessarily mean a direct knock off!) to be “translated” in a F2P game might sound ludicrous, but so was a game like Genshin Impact just a few years ago! We are witnessing unprecedented change in the industry!

Reality Check…

Many people still don’t seem to understand that a BIG reason why a lot of gamers aren’t buying so many consoles and premium games anymore is also because so many F2P cross-play/platform titles nowadays provide that value to hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide! That value outcompetes a lot (not all!) of the offerings from premium games and has not only greatly expanded gaming audiences, but also pushed many traditional core gamers into the space of F2P and mobile.
Most of this “push” comes from China. A lot of the gaming industry growth comes from these games! And it’s not going to stop anytime soon. We’re only witnessing the beginning, I think.

I wrote about this before for GamesIndustry.Biz, and also here on my Substack on several of my previous articles.

This industry-wide growth by the way is not just for Chinese games within the Chinese market! It’s important to understand that audiences for many of the aforementioned games are distributed across the whole globe, with some big hits like Love and Deepspace, Genshin Impact and others having a large portion of their audience in North America, Europe and Japan.

For more of my updates, please consider following me on Twitter, where I’m most active (thank you).

Xbox’s status in China right now, as is the case in most of the world, is pretty anemic at best. It’s a sad state of affairs, as I believe that a competitive market with different sides battling it out for market dominance fuels creativity and ultimately enables better games to be born.

As a side note, and for those unaware, the Xbox 360 was actually somewhat popular in China during its peak years. That was also during the period when consoles were officially banned in the country, but regardless, imports would still flood “grey market” stores. I personally saw how present the 360 was at the time, as I lived in Tianjin during 2008/2009 and used to visit gaming stores there and in Beijing.
But anyway, those are tales from other times, for another time…

So…Xbox has updated its PC Xbox app integrating NetEase’s UU accelerator. You can read the original announcement here.

UU is a commonly used service (mostly) in China for gamers to have better connection speeds to play online games (and overcome the Great Chinese Firewall, legally). Not only it increases connection speeds and makes them more stable (lower ping), it is actually necessary to play some specific games. While online services on Xbox (and other consoles) are easily accessible using standard local Chinese connections, some online-intensive games simply won’t connect unless the user has an accelerator (such as UU) or some other kind of VPN enabled connection. UU however is not a replacement for VPNs in China - you can’t really use UU to access banned websites or apps. It’s really very gaming-focused.

UU (and similar options) is compatible with mobile devices, PlayStation, Switch, PC and Xbox consoles. However, this is the first official integration from a console maker (Microsoft/Xbox) with NetEase’s widely used service (as far as I know).

The timing of the announcement is strategic, as it was made just a few days before the start of the Chinese New Year holiday period. As it happens during most non-working holidays, people have more time to stay at home and play videogames, and therefore, UU will come in handy.
This partnership highlights both Xbox’s and NetEase understanding of real needs from Chinese gamers. In particular PC gamers playing competitive online multiplayer games.

While UU is an openly sold/distributed service, its regulatory status remains somewhat ambiguous and nebulous. The booster is allowing users to connect/login with digital platforms/networks/servers/APIs that otherwise the Great Firewall of China would gate them from.
Technically not illegal (maybe?), but it does fall into that “grey space” where authorities just mostly dismiss/ignore something, as long as it is not socially disruptive (according to the CCP principles…).

About NetEase: NetEase is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world. As a Chinese company, its influence and market reach has historically been mostly focused in China, but the company has extended its influence worldwide in recent years. Games like Marvel Rivals, Where Winds Meet, Sword of Justice and many more are NetEase’s. The company also owns international development studios (such as Quantic Dream) and has worked with many big international IPs.

Above are screenshots taken from 4 trailers from 4 distinct Chinese games that were shown at The Game Awards 2025.

I dare you, try to identify each one. I’ll even list their names below:

-Wuthering Waves

-Arknights: EndField

-Duet Night Abyss

-Zenless Zone Zero

This post was originally written as a Twitter thread. Please consider following me there for many more daily updates on the gaming scene in China, and more.

This is an issue mostly found among F2P gacha Chinese games (mostly, but not only). They pretty much all look the same, by design.

This derivative visual stagnation is something I mentioned a long time ago in a written article for Gamesindustry.Biz, and in several previous posts here on Substack.

There’s clearly an audience and demand for “these sorts of games”, with this particular aesthetic (Genshin Impact arguably being the first big one that created the mold, among Chinese ones). It’s hard to argue against these games, considering their popularity and how they generate massive profits for their developers and publishers. However, in an increasingly competitive and flooded landscape, adopting similar aesthetics can quickly become a double edged sword.

On one hand it guarantees that core anime fans at least will pay attention and possibly engage with the game. The potential audience is always there. On the other hand, the lack of differentiation can dilute the offering in itself, and make it harder to not only increase their audience but also reach new gamers. It’s a diminishing returns path really, if we see it from a linear timeline perspective: Genshin Impact started the trend (among Chinese devs, specifically!), and most similar games that came after have been struggling to reach those heights in terms of user numbers and retention. The audience while large, ends up being cannibalized by the many games on offering, and new titles being introduced struggle even more to capture users. Generally!

Having said all that, it would be unfair however to generalize and say ALL Chinese games look the same. They don’t (hello “Karma Dark World”)! That’s not what I’m saying here. If we really dig into it, we’ll quickly find quite the spectrum of different styles and genres among Chinese-developed games. Not to mention as well, games that use non-Chinese licenses (Marvel Rivals and many more), and studios that are owned by Chinese companies but operate outside of China and produce distinctive-looking titles (Riot Games comes to mind - fully owned by Tencent).

Plus, with time I believe we’ll see more and more diversification coming out from Chinese devs. It really is a business survival imperative. Stagnation is not a sustainable option.

We need to keep things in perspective however, and understand that just 5 years ago, barely any Chinese games were globally launched outside of mobile. Everything is very new, and moving very fast!

Still, Chinese gaming has an optics problem, I think. Even if temporary.

The gigantic and widespread influence from successful F2P anime-looking Chinese games is shaping public perception, and general expectations. That could represent a challenge for future games who’ll need to show and prove themselves to gamers that they’re actually different. Already now when a new Chinese game is announced, common responses include something like “Another F2P gacha”, not in a complimentary way.

To end on a positive note (depending on where you stand on this), I’m firmly convinced that the output from Chinese developers will overwhelm the industry, sooner rather than later. In quantity, quality, but also creatively. There are just too many studios in China, too much human talent, a lot of resources and backing, and tons of ambition and a thirst for global affirmation!

CD Projekt Red and RedNote ran a pop-up shop in Shanghai, at the Red Corner Cafe, from November 4th to 11th.

Red Corner is a one-location coffee shop from the popular social media platform RedNote (小红书 - XiaoHongShu).

Besides visiting the cafe for the opening, heads from the Polish studio also visited RedNote’s offices, where they gave talks.

While the pop-up shop/cafe focus a lot on The Witcher for its decorations, it should be noticed that both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 were very successful in China! Cyberpunk in particular.

Wild Free Market

Both games do not have a publishing license in China, and therefore ALL of their sales in the country happen through the so called “grey market” - in this case, almost all digitally on Steam, but also on consoles to a lesser extent.

So yes, all of this marketing synergy between some of the biggest IPs in gaming from one of the most reputable studios in the world (Cyberpunk launch what?! lol) with one of the biggest social media platforms on the planet is possible because PC and console gamers in China buy games outside of what local authorities regulate.

And this, “This is China” ❤️

(all the pictures used were taken from XiaoHongShu)

StarCraft 2 officially returned to China on October 28, 2025.

Long story short, after NetEase and Blizzard breakup during 2023, they reconciled in April 2024, and now Chinese servers and operations for some of Blizzard games are being reestablished since, gradually.
I wrote a note back in late 2022 concerning the breakup.

While the return of Starcraft 2 is welcomed by its gaming community in China, I’m writing this brief post mostly in the hopes of clearing up a decades-old misconception about the Chinese market…and “Asia”.

Battling Old Views

No, StarCraft is not “huge in Asia!”. Not anymore at least.

This is one of those long-lasting dated ideas many Western gaming pundits in particular still carry with themselves, and often perpetuate when talking about gaming in China and/or South Korea.
Old generalizations are hard to dissipate - especially when China moves so fast, while most of the rest of the world seems to linger in stagnation, comparatively…

StarCraft was huge in these territories yes, but it’s niche now, by most metrics. It has been for years!
To be more precise, Starcraft (and its sequel) was never that big to begin with in China - South Korea is where the game was a true cultural phenomenon.
In China it was popular and recognizable as an IP yes, but World of Warcraft was the main tentpole for Blizzard in the country.

Iconic IP no doubt, huge social and cultural legacy, undeniably! But it had its time.

The IP is still active (in particular in the e-sports scene), but it’s important to understand that from a mainstream mass-market perspective, StarCraft is pretty much irrelevant nowadays. In China, South Korea, or pretty much anywhere!

Having said all that, obviously the return to China of Starcraft 2 matters. The community exists, and we’ll likely see a peak in interest in the franchise surrounding the game’s early launch months.

For Blizzard (within the context of Activision-Blizzard as a Microsoft-owned entity), continuing to partner with NetEase in China is a sound strategy. After the breakup, Blizzard probably very quickly realized that trying to find a new operations partner in China would translate into extreme delays to re-launch their games in this market (NetEase already owned the Publishing Licenses for their games, and restarting that process with another publisher would be draining pain).

Plus, over the years, Blizzard games in China have become strongly associated with NetEase as a brand and universe of franchises. For NetEase as well, while losing the relationship with Blizzard wouldn’t doom the company, it would still represent a significant loss in branding and general image. Blizzard games are part of NetEase’s national heritage in China, part of its image and legacy, to some extent. It matters, and it’s something that can continue to be worked on going forward…

The content in this article is based on a LinkedIn post of mine. Please follow me there as well for more regular updates.

3 major international titles got their Chinese publishing license today from the NPPA (National Press and Publication Administration).

Several imported and national games did, but I want to highlight these 3 in particular:

Split Fiction

Astro Bot

Dave the Diver

-Dave the Diver has been very popular in China since its global release back in 2023. Chinese memes about the game have been popular online and the game was widely discussed by people online when it launched and following months.

-Split Fiction had roughly 50% of its user-base on Steam originating in China at launch, back in March 2025 (It Takes Two was huge success in China - 10M+ copies).

-Astro Bot, while not that successful in China, is a known IP for core gamers. The game had, allegedly, sold about 2.3 million copies worldwide 6 months after its launch. Very decent numbers for the first paid game in the IP, but far from being a big global hit.

Does it matter that these games now received a publishing license in China?

Well, it doesn’t hurt.

If you ask a publisher in China or agency that assists international games to launch in in the country, they will unquestionably tell you this is fantastic!! Of course, that is their business after all.

But really, in practice this has little impact, overall.

These 3 titles in particular are console and PC games, so the vast majority of Chinese gamers will buy these from international digital storefronts (Steam, PSN, and eShop mostly, in these cases), and have been doing so since their worldwide release date.

Even if they now become available on regulated Chinese platforms, PS5 users in China will mostly continue to use a Hong Kong account (even on a Chinese console model), and Switch users overwhelmingly have imported consoles anyway with access to all games.

None of these games are available on mobile (iOS/Android) which is really where a Chinese Publishing License becomes crucial for a game’s success in the country.

Mostly because mobile games tend to be F2P and depend on revenue from microtransactions and/or ads. These require a formal and regulated integration with Chinese payment and ads networks, plus servers for multiplayer and online support.

None of these games (Astro Bot, Split Fiction and Dave the Diver) depend or even support microtransactions or ads. As for online servers, Chinese gamers have it covered already with plenty of access to international ones where needed.

I don’t mean to suggest developers shouldn’t try to acquire a publishing License for their games in China!

As I said earlier, it doesn’t hurt. It helps, no doubt. It’s another way of creating revenue from the game, even if residual (depending on the situation/game).
What I always tell developers, however, is, to carefully and strategically consider your resources and what is best for your specific title in this particular market.

How exactly will the License help these games?

Some people might assume that only licensed games are allowed to be publicly promoted in China (online and irl), but that’s not the case, at all.

Almost any game you can think of can be seen being streamed to millions of people on popular streaming platforms, sold and openly promoted on major e-commerce ones, and being featured in major e-sports events, conventions and expos throughout the country. I wrote about this in several articles before, and even provided the specific example of PlayStation China marketing efforts promoting unlicensed games.

Having a publishing license will allow these games to be included in the portfolio of games available on local networks and platforms where they can be distributed. Namely, the Chinese PSN for those using Chinese models of the PS5 (many Chinese consumers still prefer to buy HK and Japanese imports which are widely and easily available), the Chinese-regulated Steam and other Chinese PC digital stores such as Tencent’s WeGame (pictured below). However, these formally regulated Chinese platforms have only a fraction of the traffic we see in the international Steam most Chinese gamers use, or on other regional accounts that console gamers will register to instead of the Chinese ones. For most consumers, there simply is not good reason to use the Chinese platforms, and since international ones are easily accessible, the situation is unlikely to change any time soon (unless the government decides to drastically and severely intervene).

With a publishing license, local Chinese publishers and distributors can also work on producing local physical editions for their respective games. As a gaming collector, I think this aspect is really cool. Some of these Chinese editions are really nice and will often include a lot of extra content. Gamepoch in particular is a Chinese publisher with a long record of releasing these cool editions.

Thing is, most people dont buy physical games anymore. Even more so in China. These physical editions are a niche within a niche and, while I love them as a collector, I like to own them mostly because I recognize how rare they will eventually become due to their limited printing.

Having a publishing license is mostly advantageous for the local Chinese publishers and distributors international devs need to partner up with to acquire one. By having the license, associated operators in China will have a bigger cut of the profits with those specific licensed editions. For the international devs however, if they can manage to sell in China without a publishing license (as most do), that becomes the cleanest and most profitable route, generally.

A PlayStation store selling Nintendo Switch games?

"This is China" would be the easiest and most common explanation I would give for this. It’s an explanation that provides all the answers while simultaneously explaining nothing at all. “This is China” is a common reply among seasoned “China people”, but I realize it might not be enough for those on the outside…

This article is taken from a Twitter thread I wrote. Please consider following me there, as it is the platform where I’m more active with insights, news and whatever whatevers…

The picture above is from a legit store in a big fancy mall in Shenzhen, China. However, most of the games and consoles sold in this store are unlicensed imports.

How, and Why?

I've been writing about gaming market dynamics in China for over a decade. There’s a lot of context to this particular kind of stores and the products sold in them. If you want the full picture, please check some of my previous articles here on Substack, and at GamesIndustry.biz where some of my older (but still pertinent) pieces were published.

On then, with the "dualist" store from above…

I'm not going to pretend like I know all the details about the store operators and how it formally relates to PlayStation China or not, exactly. It is indeed a fully legal physical store in a regulated commercial space however.

Meaning, nothing shady about it. Or is there?...

It's important to understand that retail physical gaming stores in China are extremely rare, compared to the overall sales volume of games in the country. The vast majority of game sales happen online, both for digital and physical games.
For physical games in particular, I would say 99% of game sales are made through e-commerce platforms (Taobao, JD and so on), while digital sales mostly happen in their respective digital storefronts (PSN, Microsoft/Xbox Store, eShop, Steam…).

This PlayStation store is therefore a sort of boutique. A rarity that really serves no one in particular besides the spontaneous foot trafic at its front that decides to have a look and hopefully buy something. Needless to say, in the “numbers game” of China, there’s always a good chance enough people might notice your business to make it worthwhile.

It's easy to see that almost every game sold in this store is either from Japan, Hong-Kong, Taiwan, or the US. They are imports, and not originally meant to be sold in Mainland China.

Most of these games do not have a required publishing license for distribution in this market, and therefore are not officially available - legally speaking, every videogame sold and/or available to consumers in China is required to be scrutinized by appropriate authorities, and given a Publishing License (ISBN) if cleared. Strict control and censorship in media and entertainment in China is a very well-known factor that does not require much introduction to anyone reading this…I assume.

But, as I mention in most of my writing, not being legally licensed for distribution is not an actual practical impediment for the games to be widely and easily available in the country, both physically, and online on digital storefronts. What the law and regulations say and what actually happens in practice often do not align, at all.

For PC and console games in China, that is THE market!

I also talked about this subject very extensively during the Ready.Aim.Win podcast, if you want to better understand how it all works, broadly:

Watch the full episode of the RAW Podcast here.

So, how/why does a store in such a public space sell goods that are not legally licensed for distribution in China?

There's no satisfying answer: This is China.
Now you understand it better. I hope.

The market is too big and multi-layered, and the sale of these products is not socially disruptive. Therefore, it's allowed/tolerated?
It’s all based on the grand “social contract” between the People in China and its government - for authorities to crack down on seemingly harmless areas (such as imported games) would raise too many questions among those who consume them, and would reverberate across other areas of the Chinese gaming industry and market, which is nowadays very…VERY big. This is all to say that sometimes, it’s better to just let it be. At least as long as it’s not causing much trouble…

I'm not an expert on commerce and retail regulations in China, so I lack a lot of knowledge that could provide more insights about a physical store like this one in particular. Thankfully, someone who works in the gaming industry in China did provide some valuable information on my aforementioned Twitter thread:

”The offline supervision of physical games is very complex. Sellers usually claim that these products are purchasing agent items, collectibles or game peripherals to circumvent the existing rules. This mainly depends on the enforcement of regulations.”

Meaning, loopholes and the ambiguity of regulations are exploited by sellers, generally speaking.

Besides that, after publishing this article I had the opportunity to exchange some ideas with Stephen Li, who is the Director of Commercial and Sales Operations at PlayStation China.

Stephen explained to me that while stores like these are not directly operated by Sony/PlayStation, "Sony and others will support on fixtures and furniture."

The stores themselves are "all managed by either distributors or retailers, so there's no way to limit them to a single brand.". Li went on to clarify that the stores are "owned by the retailers themselves." - as is fairly standard practice in retail worldwide, regardless of products/industry.

This represents a symbiotic partnership between retailers and console makers (Sony in this case, and Nintendo presumably) that end up acting as brand ambassadors and distributors, but not on an exclusive base. This on top of all the regulatory loopholes and general "indifference" from authorities that allow for the sale of unlicensed games.

Ok, But Why Switch Games on a PlayStation Store?!

Because these are the two most popular consoles in China. That’s the simple answer. While the PlayStation 5 has substantially been growing its market share in China, the PlayStation 4 and especially the Switch paved the way before.

I estimate the Switch to still be the most popular console in China in total number of console users. The Switch 2 has been proving to have strong demand as well. PlayStation 5 sales in China have boomed, in particular since the launch of Black Myth: Wukong. Most of these sales however are still from imported consoles, which are stocked and sold on an industrial scale in the country, countering the officially licensed national models - read more about that here, and the articles I’ve mentioned before.

Simply put, this store sells both PlayStation and Switch games because this is what sells the most. This is China…

没有为什么

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is the latest AAA Chinese game to release globally, and it broke street date 3 days ahead of time, in China.

Many online sellers in the country had the game in stock and ready to sell and ship out on July 21st, 3 days ahead of the July 24th official worldwide release.

It’s important to understand that this is not an exceptional thing to happen with physical games in China. In fact, I’m writing this post, if anything, to highlight how common it is, and hopefully to dispel yet another misconception that many people have about gaming in China: no, Chinese gamers don’t need to wait longer than the rest of the world to have access to games! As it happens actually, consumers in China can usually get their hands on physical games before most other people in other markets.

How Can Games Be Available Before Release in China?

Since most PC and console games in China are unlicensed "grey market" imports, sellers are not concerned with release and distribution schedules. That’s the short answer.

Within this context of “grey market”, publishers have absolutely no power at all over these sellers, as they operate independently from any centralized distributor that answers to the game’s publishers and corporate overlords.

For more context on console gaming market dynamics in China, please check some of my previous articles on the subject. I write my content here from the assumption that readers will be somewhat familiar with the Chinese market, but if you’re not, check this previous post, or this older article I wrote for Gamesindustry.biz, or even this more recent one.


While Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a Chinese game made by a Chinese studio in China (Leenzee Games, in Chengdu), it does not have a publishing license for the country.
That means that, officially, the game is not to be launched in Mainland China.
But yes, the game is fully localized in Chinese of course.

If you’re wondering why the game does not have an approved publishing license for China, the answer is simple: its content.
Just like so many other major console games from around the world, Wuchang is a title aimed at mature audiences. It’s a souls-like action game with its fair share of ultra-violence, gore, body-horror, sexy characters and themes that Chinese authorities generally censor. Regardless of being a Chinese game, the rules apply to it just as they do to most other non-Chinese games, and therefore it would have very little chances of getting a license even if the studio tried to apply for one.
A parallel could be made here with some Chinese movies that are not “allowed” in China, but go on to play in theaters around the world and even win awards at international film festivals…

This, of course, is not an actual barrier for the game to be widely and easily available to any gamers who wants it in China, both physically or digitally, in any available platform.
As I explained in many of my previous articles, all games are readily available to gamers through digital stores from different regions on consoles (not blocked using a conventional internet provider in China), international Steam, and in the case of physical copies through online sellers that stock games imported from neighboring markets - mostly Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, but not only (Hong Kong is technically a different market from Mainland China, with its own laws and regulations for products such as videogames).

To answer the initial question as to how can games be available in China before their release date: because sellers throughout the country have them on time and dont need to answer to anyone else in order to sell them. It’s that simple.

Will Wuchang be Successful?

The game already is successful.

As I have reported before, Leenzee Games already secured funding for its next project thanks to its distribution deal with Game Pass on Xbox to launch Wuchang on Microsoft’s service.

I’m not aware of current ongoing internal operations, but at the time I reported on the next game from the studio being greenlit already, the studio had a comfortable runway to continue operations. Needless to say however, that internal finances of a company, and decisions that impact said finances, are often volatile and subject to changes…

Besides the Game Pass money, at the time of this writing it is publicly reported through Alinea Analytics (follow ) that Wuchang launched as the No.1 game on Steam in China, No.1 pre-orders on Steam globally, with pre-sold copies nearing 200k units. Plus, PS5 pre-sales in China are substantial, according to the same source.

I can't speak for the publisher's or the studio internal expectations, but I think it's very fair to predict this will not be a "Black Myth Wukong" kind of phenomenon, in China or elsewhere. Sales will be relatively modest during its wider launch window, I predict.
While the game is launching as the number 1 game on Steam and tracking well on PlayStation 5, we shouldn’t assume that’s enough to guarantee an extraordinarily big launch, sales-wise. Especially long term.
I have no doubt Wuchang will find its audience, and like many games nowadays, it should have a somewhat consistent long-tail. However, I would be (positively) surprised if it manages to sell more than 1 million units in its first month (not to be confused with the number of players. Accounting for Game Pass, it is very predictable the game will quickly reach more than 1 million players - as publishers nowadays so much like to boast using that particular metric…).

I suppose for the studio, 1 million units in its first month or two would be an excellent result. Considering the mixed-to-good reviews Wuchang got from critics, plus the insatiable and ever-present core audience for souls-like games, I see Wuchang selling anywhere between 3 to 5 million copies from launch until the end of 2025.
I would be happy if it sells more however.

Publishing and Marketing

For Chinese-speaking markets, Wuchang benefits from the publishing and marketing efforts from Justdan, the publisher of the PS5 version in Taiwan and Hong-Kong.
The Xbox version of the game is handled by Shanghai E-Home Entertainment in the different Chinese-speaking markets, non-including Mainland China.
Globally, the game is published by 505 Games.

In my opinion, Wuchang has been plagued by very poor marketing since first revealed. I’ve been very open with my criticism, in particular towards their Twitter account. I don’t blame it all on 505 Games (being the global publisher), but there’s something to be said about the company’s track record with some of its past major games which, in my opinion, have been grossly mismanaged (Asseto Corsa, Control, and more recently Blades of Fire come to mind).
I won’t dwell into this topic here however, as that would be an entirely different conversation, far from today’s focus, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.

As a final observation, and to end on a more positive note, I do want to highlight the licensing collaborations the game has with some gaming accessory makers.
At the time of the game’s launch, 4 manufacturers have made special edition gamepads/controllers that are available for sale, aimed at PC gamers.
These are from 8BitDo, GameSir, Flydigi, and Beitong. All of them Chinese companies.

"Pact Between Us" is being accused of inappropriately portraying an "ambiguous" relationship between a step-brother and sister, using real actors who are minors.

*P.S. UPDATE: A couple of days after the publishing of this article, the Steam page for the game was updated with a new trailer and screenshots. All feature adult actors and there's no visual mention of minors anymore.*

Let's try to unpack what's happening:

*I didn't play the game. The following is based on my quick research*

-The story premise of the game (available on Steam) is that of a couple of step-siblings who lose their parents, and it's then up to the older brother to take care of his little sister...

-The game is called "我和未来有个约定" in Chinese, which roughly translates as "Me and Future have a pact". "Future" being the name of the little sister.

-The devs (反网暴) already stated that all scenes using minors were produced with the consent and supervision from their parents, and they refute accusations of vulgar or inappropriate content in their game. The Steam page of the game even includes the following statement:

-While the game apparently never clearly crosses any "hard lines", what is there seems to be enough for many people to complain (online) about its content and portrayal of minors.

-Among some multiple-endings available, some allegedly conclude with some kind of love story between the siblings...
*Spoiler Alert: apparently, by the end of the story, the sister is already 18 years old and portrayed by an older actor.*

-The game is available on Steam, however it does not have a publishing license in China.
Even though it is 100% China-Made, like most PC/console games played by Chinese consumers, it is not officially available in the country. It is however available nonetheless through Steam, which is widely used by gamers in the country.

While this game in particular is (still) not very well known, it exists within a booming trend of FMV Chinese games that has been developing in recent years. Most of them dating sims, but there's also other genres, such as horror and more.

I wrote about this trendy phenomenon before, and its cultural impact: here, and here.

As I mentioned, the game has fueled some discussions online within the “Chinese internets” mostly. I feel like I have to emphasize, however, that this is not a major controversy widely discussed among the general population!

The game has been discussed within its niche and relatively obscure online communities. Enough still for the developers to publicly react and for sales of the game to see a visibly boost, even if just slightly.

Set in the Tang Dinasty (the game's Chinese name is 归唐, which translates as "Returning to Tang", or "The Return of Tang Dinasty", depending on context), Blood Message presents itself as a premium (non-F2P) single-player action-adventure title developed in Unreal Engine 5, and planned to release on PC and consoles (release date unspecified atm).

While the reveal trailer includes a lot of cinematics and possibly some CGI segments, it does include in-engine scenes, presumably. It looks great!

I think this title is a departure from other recent major announced AAA Chinese games specifically because it feels much more inspired by games in the Assassin's Creed franchise and even Uncharted (the development team does include some ex-Ubisoft).

This is an action-adventure game with no firearms, set in a grounded/realistic setting (apparently), as opposed to souls-like inspired games set in mythological settings filled with traditional Chinese folklore and fast-paced action as we've seen from Phantom Blade Zero, Wuchang, Black Myth Wukong and others.

Also, it is not a cross-play anime-inspired gacha game, like so many of the most popular Chinese games are.

This is noteworthy as, even now, a lot of AAA Chinese games are starting to all look too similar to each other, especially to more casual gamers.
It is important for Chinese developers to maintain momentum as they expand their reach internationally, and one way to keep that going is by diversifying the type of games produced. Blood Message, I believe, is a positive step in that direction - I mentioned the issue of possible creative stagnation before in a piece I wrote.

Currently with no major new Tomb Raider, Uncharted or other popular games in the genre announced, Blood Message might just come to the rescue and perhaps become a hit among gamers eager for a new big third-person action-adventure.

Who’s the Studio Behind the Game?

Blood Message is being developed by 24 Entertainment Lin’an, and published by NetEase. 24 Entertainment is owned by NetEase, and is part of the company’s subsidiary Thunder Fire Studio.

The “Lin’an” in the name of the studio refers to the Lin’an district in Hangzhou, the city where both NetEase and 24 Entertainment are headquartered. While 24 Entertainment has existed now for approximately 18 years and is best known for developing the very successful Naraka: Bladepoint and its mobile version as well (and other online games before), this new Lin’an office/studio is a new branch of 24 Entertainment.

Naraka has been immensely successful, with the console and PC versions having reached over 40 million players back in late 2023, worldwide!
The mobile version of the game, while still exclusive to the Chinese market, has also been very profitable for the studio and NetEase.

Due to its history with online multiplayer games, a lot of Chinese gamers showed skepticism towards Blood Message when it was first revealed. Many were doubtful about the game’s focus, fearing that it could be yet another F2P and/or online game. However, in the game’s official account on Weibo, a public message made it clear that Blood Message is indeed a premium single-player!

This game being developed by such a well-established and experienced studio is also a departure from most other AAA Chinese games (Black Myth included) who are developed by studios with a “less ambitious” background.

Possible Controversies…

This may or may not be a thing, but as soon as Blood Message was announced, some people online started discussing its parallels with an infamously unreleased Chinese movie: Heroes of Dunhuang (敦煌英雄).

The movie was supposed to release in Chinese theaters back in 2023, and then…it never did. Supposedly due to censorship regarding its historical subject matter which focuses on multi-ethnic conflicts. Namely, Guiyi’s Army conflicts against the Tibetan Empire. Needless to say, policies regarding minorities are a very sensitive matter in China nowadays (and for decades in the past), and any piece of entertainment that leans into these topics will be the target of extreme scrutiny…

It just so happens that Blood Message is set within the same historical context, leading some people to speculate about, and discuss these issues.

I dont think the game will have any issues to release, both in China, and especially internationally. Chinese authorities understand the growing strength of videogames as a spearhead for the country’s soft-power abroad. While a movie like Heroes of Dunhuang had no expectations of ever being a hit outside of China, a game like Blood Message certainly has. This is a crucial point when trying to understand Chinese policies regarding their exports, as opposed to how they regulate things “at home”.

Even if the game however were to be censored or even banned in China (not going to happen!), Chinese gamers would still be able to easily access it on Steam and consoles, just as they do for any other game…

According to estimations from reputable tracker Alinea Analytics, approximately 58% of Stellar Blade players on PC are in China.
Some other independent sources point to even higher numbers for the South-Korean made game, as is the case of this independent tracker, claiming 70%.

Regardless of the exact number, it seems safe to say the majority of gamers for the popular Shift Up title are indeed in China, as of the time of this writing.

The game reached over 180k concurrent players on Steam after launching on June 11, becoming the fastest Sony-published PC title to do so, and breaking the record for Sony-published single-player games on PC!

Stellar Blade was previously available as a PlayStation 5 exclusive since April 2024.

Recipe for Sucess

There are many reasons why Stellar Blade has become so popular in China. One of which is localization.

-The PC version added Chinese dubs, as opposed to the PS5 version that didn't have the option.
For Chinese gamers in particular, full localization is critical and can make all the difference on how a game is received by consumers.

-Stellar Blade does not have a publishing license for China (and likely never will due to its risqué content), however the game is easily accessible to Chinese gamers on Steam (this is the case with most PC and console games anyway).

-Even though the game is not legally licensed for distribution in Mainland China, Sony has been heavily promoting the game in its official marketing channels/platforms in the country since the game released on the PS5.
Promoting games and content that are not officially available in China has become common practice by Sony and a key strategy to expand its footprint in this gigantic market - as I explained before.

-Promoting unlicensed games (through visual marketing materials, mentions, streams, etc) is not illegal in China and is how most international games promote themselves in the country, in spite of not having a Publishing license (ISBN).
While Sony is the global publisher for Stellar Blade, even on the game’s Steam page we can see the remark noting it is not in China - pictured below.

-Stellar Blade being already a one-year-old hit and popular game worldwide made it an easily recognizable IP for Chinese consumers, even those who didn’t experience it before on PS5.

If you want to know more about market dynamics in China for unlicensed games and how they still manage to sell and be successful in the country, you can read this article I wrote before for GamesIndustry.biz, and this one.

Marketing Synergy

I think it’s important to point out how the PC release of Stellar Blade almost coincided with the release of NIKKE in China, which is another very popular game from Shift Up.

NIKKE launched in Mainland China on May 22, after being available worldwide for more than a year before that. The game was already very popular in the country, even without its official and licensed launch. I also previously wrote about that.

Furthermore, a NIKKE DLC was made available for Stellar Blade on the same day as the PC version released (June 11). It’s fair to say that marketing efforts and general hype for NIKKE in China worked in tandem to propel Stellar Blade’s PC release as well, even if not directly. Both games share a fairly similar art-direction, in particular with their hyper-sexualized female characters (not judging!), and presumably share a lot of the same target audience.

Are Publishers even Necessary in China?

Yes, of course they are.

Looking at the success of present and past unlicensed international games released in China, I’m afraid some people might be tempted to argue that non-Chinese devs and publishers do not need to worry about publishing efforts for China.

While a game can find a big audience in the country and profit without having a dedicated publisher for that market, there’s still a need to “market” the game: like with almost every game released, marketing is important and can make the whole difference between a title being successful, or ignored by consumers.
Discoverability is a major issue for most games released on PC/Steam in particular, due to the large number of titles made available daily.

Even without a Publishing License in China, a studio and/or its international publisher need to consider marketing their game on Chinese social media platforms, streaming channels, with local influencers, and so on.

Obviously, for a game like Stellar Blade, it’s all much easier. The IP was already a known factor among gamers due to its original PS5 release - public awareness was already there. For big/famous games, then yes, it is not unreasonable to consider that the “usual” publishing work is not necessary for success in China. Although, of course, localization at least remains paramount.

The predictable official announcement comes after Polyphony Digital’s boss Kazunori Yamauchi meeting with Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun and visiting the company's headquarters in May.

During a staged public presentation, the game producer also announced the development of a Xiaomi Vision GT car for the game (this is a long-running collaboration initiative in which GT collaborates with car manufacturers to produce a concept-vision car, which may or may not be physically produced besides its digital version in the game).

This is the first time a fully EV Chinese car will be included in the “real driving simulator” series.
(Please understand that by “Chinese car” I mean from Chinese brands that have been created in China. I realize several international brands are now owned by Chinese conglomerates, and are therefore Chinese, technically.)

This collaboration further extends the reach and influence of the growing Chinese auto industry in gaming, and worldwide. Notoriously, the Forza series from Microsoft also features some Chinese models, as well as other recent racing games.

Sony has been promoting an upcoming discount campaign for its PS5 in Mainland China.

2799 Yuan (US$389) for the digital PS5 SKU, in celebration of 618 (JD's founding date - major e-commerce platform in China). The same SKU regular price is 2999 Yuan.

Sony recently acquired full control over its distribution operation network for consoles in the country, now having more freedom to strategize in its market.

The discount is temporary and applies only to the digital base model. It lasts from May 30 until June 18. This discount also happens while the Nintendo Switch 2 releases globally (June 5), but not yet in China, officially.

While the Switch 2 still doesn't have an official release date for China, the console will, nevertheless, be easily and widely available to Chinese consumers on day 1, through imported models on e-commerce platforms - by this I mean online sellers will have the console in stock and available for people to purchase immediately (not small scalping operations or individual imports).

Sony continues to aggressively expand its foothold in China, as opposed to Xbox/Microsoft who’s almost invisible at this moment in the territory (although Game Pass is more popular in China than most people seem to realize…but that’s another topic), and even Nintendo, who’s strategy in China remains in limbo with no announcements concerning a distribution partner for the Switch 2 in the country.

Nikke launched in Mainland China on May 22. This happens after the Shift Up game was released elsewhere in 2022.
During the time since that initial launch, the game was localized for the Chinese market and now officially released for PC, iOS and Android.

More than 8 million registered players at launch, and growing…

-Through its localization process, the game was heavily censored. In particular for the characters design, which saw a lot of their clothes “toned down” (pictured below, comparisons between the original design and the Chinese version for some characters).

The localization also includes voice over, translations, monetization networks integration, servers and more...

-It's important to understand that the game already had a substantial user base in China, even before the official release.

-While the officially licensed version of the game for China only released this month, people in the country were already playing the global version anyway, mostly on PC. No issues accessing that on Steam.

-Many people in China who were playing it on PC will likely continue playing that version. However, for the mobile versions in particular, there are a lot of conveniences to playing the local version: servers, social/community features, local integrated payment methods (WeChat/Alipay)...

This Chinese version will mostly grow the audience of the game on mobile, I think.

-Also, Nikke is the main revenue maker for Shift Up globally, above Stellar Blade (which is more well known among core gamers), having produced more than US$1 Billion in revenue since it first launched.

-While Nikke ("Goddess of Victory: Nikke") is developed by South Korean Shift Up, the game is globally published by Level Infinite, which is a major publishing subsidiary fully owned and operated by Chinese Tencent.

PS: I don’t usually post about individual game launches, but in an attempt to publish more articles, I’ll try to make more “short-form” posts such as this one.

The Sega Store…

This new store sort of replaces the temporary pop-up shop that opened in the city back in January 2025, and remained open until the end of March.

Lots of merch for different Sega IPs is present, including for Yakuza/Like a Dragon.
This is particularly surprising since Yakuza games are generally "hidden" in China, with online sellers even using alternative titles and pictures in their listings on Taobao and other platforms (I'm not sure if the games are formally banned in the country).

The Sega store in Shanghai is actually located in a building (ZX) that houses many other similar stores focused on Japanese pop culture, broadly.

Here's the official announcement from Sega for the store, and a video from the previous temporary pop-up shop:

Cashing In on Geek Culture

The market for ACGN culture (“Anime, Comics, Games, Novels”) merchandise has been booming in China in recent years, with many different stores opening across all over the country.
Not only dedicated stores however: IP collaborations with F&B brands, different services and products have become a constant and ongoing accelerated trend.

The ChinaJoy account on Twitter often shares good insights about the gaming market and scene in China, and this tidbit in particular (pictured above) caught my attention. It's one of those “realities” you really need to be in China to understand and perceive it as it is (even if the data is very informative, of course).

While most gaming spending is digital and/or through e-commerce, a physical presence helps with branding, and to increase awareness. In particular to consumers who otherwise wouldn't necessarily be interested in the industry beyond the more casual offerings on mobile.

Notice we're not necessarily talking about core gaming stores here, but ACGN-related. Meaning, stores that sell products (merch, bibelots, games, consumables, etc) related to gaming, anime, comics and so on - with a distinct emphasis on Japanese-focused ones, but also from popular Chinese IPs.

Virtually every modern medium-large sized shopping mall in main Chinese cities has stores that cater to these demographics and consumers. Just a few years ago in China, these products would mostly be found in more underground and marginalized commercial spaces that most people besides dedicated fans were not aware of. Now, these stores can be found in the main walking ways of busy commercial spaces, right next to your Starbucks or popular clothing brands.

In simple terms, "geek-culture" presence in mainstream spaces in China is increasingly visible, more so perhaps than in most other markets around the world (Japan being an obvious exception).

Why Is This Trend Now Emerging?

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, and highly debatable.
In my opinion, it is fundamentally a natural and organic consequence of China's accelerated opening up to the world, information and content wise - historically speaking.

This is a very layered and nuanced topic.
By "opening up" I'm not talking about China exporting. I mean people in China increasingly having access to information, entertainment content and related goods since the use of smartphones (and the internet) became generalized, broadly speaking. This, in spite of all the censorship yes. The capitalist/"open" market model in China allowed this to happen, and demand from consumers naturally followed suit and continues to do so.

It did so, to the point that it became commercially undeniable and too widespread - gaming is more popular and diverse than ever now, with mobile, PC and consoles all having large, growing and sustainable positions in the Chinese market.
Now in particular, with middle and upper-class nostalgia-fueled millenials and rabid Gen-Z that are drastically more exposed to international entertainment trends, demand is enough to create this visible retail market that has escaped from obscure spots and niche online communities of yesterday (please understand I’m specifically thinking about the Chinese context here).

Notice that this is happening, to some degree, regardless of regulations/censorship on specific content/IPs. I would argue that a lot (not all) regulations are often a reaction to market movements and demand, more than the other way around. Meaning, the growth in commercial geek-culture, gaming (and related) in China is what often alerts authorities to check themselves, and not a consequence of regulations molding the market and what people have access to. Broadly.

Having said that, Chinese authorities are clearly showing positive signs towards these trends and culture: more support to gaming companies, more public recognition (via formal channels), a “unspoken” loosening up of barriers that would otherwise prevent public exposure to a lot of these kinds of content and entertainment, but even support in academia, with more university majors related to the creative arts and game development being recognized and formally certified.

I believe Hazelight Studios upcoming Split Fiction will sell considerably less than It Takes Two did in its initial months, at least.

I used to dabble in industry predictions, and it’s something I still enjoy doing from time to time, although I didn’t do much on this platform. This post changes that.

For those not aware, It Takes Two (Hazelight previous games) sold over 20 million copies since it released back in March 2021, and won several Game of the Year (GOTY) awards, including in China from BiliBili. A recent Polygon article shared some insight into these sales numbers and provided some context - including a reference to an article I wrote in 2022 for Gamesindustry.biz.

Why won’t Split Fiction be as Successful?

It Takes Two sales were almost split in half between China and the rest of the world for the first 3~5M units at least. We know that, as Josef Fares himself (boss at Hazelight Studios) confirmed it on several different occasions, at first being in a podcast with Tim Schafer.

Split Fiction won't appeal to Chinese audiences as much. For that (very general and broad) reason, I believe sales potential for the title will be limited at launch.

To be clear, this is simply my personal prediction, of course. It Takes Two is one of my favorite games ever, and I'm extremely excited for Split Fiction. My prediction has nothing to do with quality expectations!


Why do I think Split Fiction won't appeal to Chinese audiences in particular? That would be a very long conversation.
Still, I can point out the sci-fi and fantastical themes as an obvious "barrier" to mainstream audiences, I think. It Takes Two was one of those gaming phenomena in China where many (if not most) of its users were/are "non-gamers". And why was that? That's the actual real long and nuanced conversation...

It Takes Two has a very unique art style, and it focuses on universal family themes and values that are relatable to most people around the world, and in China as well. Being a co-op game where we play as a couple considering divorce made it particularly poignant among a society (like China’s) where traditional values are constantly being challenged by the realities of the growing middle and upper classes living within this fast-changing and very fast-paced society. Simply put, beyond the extremely fun, polished and diverse gameplay the title offers, It Takes Two aimed deep at people’s emotions and views on life and society - it’s very relatable.

Split Fiction on the other hand, seems far more generic and distanced. The art style, frankly speaking, is perhaps its biggest “disadvantage”, as the game can, superficially, be easily mistaken with countless other games made over the years. The science fiction theme will put off a lot of “casuals”, making the title much more appealing to core audiences.

Localization Matters

Furthermore, on a more linguistic observation, the name for It Takes Two in China is “双人成行”, which roughly translates as “Two people’s journey (together)”. This is a very intuitive and easy to understand title. It immediately conveys the main theme. Split Fiction’s name in China on the other hand is “幻裂奇境”, very un-appealing (according to native Chinese people I asked about), and translates as “Magical Broken Place”, or “Fiction Land”. It doesn’t connect. So much so that people online in China have started calling it “姐妹成行” instead, which is a direct throwback to the It Takes Two Chinese name and translates as “Sisters Journey Together”.

Localization is, of course, crucial for the success of international games in China. While that is related to Split Fiction as well, it is a more expansive topic I won’t get too much into here…

I do think the game will be successful and have a long tail, especially if reviews are good. I very much believe Hazelight will yet again deliver an excellent game, which hopefully will be able to appeal to as many people as it deserves. In China, and everywhere.

UPDATED: The final name of the game in China is actually “双影奇境”, which roughly translates as “Twin Shadows”.

During the Chinese New Year holidays, PlayStation China (as in, the local, licensed branch that sells the Chinese PlayStation models) continued its heavy and smart marketing push in the country.

This small article is inspired by this quick thread I did on Twitter.

While PlayStation has seen an explosive growth in sales and brand awareness in China in the last year or so (in particular since the release of Black Myth Wukong), the Japanese console maker is still actively competing against its own product in the Chinese market.

That is to say, imported consoles (mostly from Japan and Hong Kong) continue to largely supply Chinese consumers who prefer buying the region-free international models, instead of the more restrictive Chinese SKUs.

Sony and PlayStation representatives understand this (I suppose), and that might partially explain why the PS5 Pro isn’t even officially available in Mainland China, even though it released almost 4 months ago elsewhere.

PlayStation 5 Pro Yet to be Released in China

As of this writing, the latest and more powerful version of the PS5 - the PS5 Pro - is not yet officially available in China. However, as it happens with most things gaming in China, the console is widely and easily available through e-commerce platforms, with countless stores selling imported models.

The absence of the Pro model is most likely explained by the usual delays associated with regulations clearances required for the legal distribution of consoles in China. However, Sony might very well be wondering if it is actually worth it going through that hassle when its Pro model is already, effectively, being bought by Chinese consumers.

PlayStation China Promoting Unlicensed Games

In fact, during this (Chinese) New Year marketing efforts, we can see the brand actively displaying games that do not have a required publishing license for legal distribution in China.

PlayStation China employed popular pop singer 大张伟 (Da Zhangwei) as brand ambassador (pictured in this article and featured in the videos) to promote the PS5 and its games. In the promotional videos, we can see clips of God of War Ragnarok, among other games that are only available in China through imports. Meaning, “PlayStation China” is not actually selling those games, neither it is directly profiting from those sales, but Sony corp certainly is. Sales of imported games (and consoles) are accounted in their markets or origin (primarily Japan and HK).

If we look at the library of licensed PS5 games for China, we quickly realize the catalog is extremely meager. Less than 1% of all internationally available PS5 games have a publishing license in China. This is also visible on the official Taobao (biggest e-commerce platform in China) store for PlayStation. And yet, marketing materials do showcase other games, because the local operators know perfectly well that people are buying the console to play many more titles that those officially available….

The actual release date has not yet been disclosed, however, Nintendo did list a few dates for what it is calling the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience. These will happen at different locations across the globe, for people to experience the new console first hand. When checking the list of announced dates and locations, once can notice Mainland China is not included:

This MIGHT be indicative that it is still working out licensing and distribution partnerships for the country, with Tencent or others.

Hong Kong is in Nintendo's calendar, although still without a date, but nothing for the mainland. Effectively, these are two different markets with different regulations.

Important to Understand:

-The Switch has been the most popular modern console in mainland China for the last decade, selling unaccounted millions.
Most of the SKUs sold in the country however are imported, mostly from Japan and HK (read more about that here).

-Tencent has been Nintendo's partner in China for the Chinese licensed model - which sold/sells far less than the imported models (learn more about that here).

-As it was recently announced, Tencent will descontinue the Chinese Switch and its online services in 2026.
At the moment, it is unclear whether Tencent will remain/renew its partnership with Nintendo for the Switch 2 (I wrote about it here).

-While the Switch 2 will be widely available in China through imported models via the many and easily accessible e-commerce sellers as soon as the console is available internationally, it is unlikely that an official Chinese model is made available still in 2025...

-Demand for the Switch 2 in China will likely be high, no doubt about it. Consumers will easily be able to get their hands on it, no matter what.

Whether Nintendo thinks it's worthwhile to invest in a local partnership to ensure a locally licensed model or not, that remains to be seen. I predict they will.

It was recently reported that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold more than 8 million retail copies in Japan.

This is a good time to keep in perspective that a healthy portion of those copies were actually sold in mainland China.
For those familiar with my content over the years, this is fundamentally the core of what I try to message when talking/writing about the Chinese gaming market with its vast and very impactful import market of console games in particular.

Almost every article I wrote for Gamesindustry.biz swirls around this topic at some point or another. I did however write one piece in particular, back in 2020, about the huge success of Animal Crossing for the Switch in mainland China and the impact it had. You can read it here. And thank you if you do.

Game Banned in China, Yet Still Available

The game was such a huge cultural and social phenomenon in China back then, that it even caught the attention from high authorities and ended up being banned in the country!
Yes, actually banned. Not the same as not having a publishing license. Actually...banned! Meaning, censored/removed from most public online platforms, including e-commerce ones such as Taobao (to this day, still).

Also, it enormously boosted Nintendo Switch sales in China, more than probably any other game during the console’s lifecycle (“Ring Fit Adventure” and “It Takes Two” being perhaps the other two that had a somewhat similar impact, perhaps).
To be clear however, the game’s popularity did not come from it being banned. It was the other way around: the game was banned due to how it became so popular and all the user-generated content that went viral at the time. I explain all that in my aforementioned article…

Still, even with the ban, the game continued (and continues) to be easily and widely available for those who seek it. I also reported about that extensively on my Twitter, as you can see here, or here. Also documented below, in these pictures I took myself in a store in Shenzhen (China) where we can see an unlicensed and banned copie of Animal Crossing available: