Chinese AAA Games Take Center Stage at Sony's 'State of Play'

4 big titles from Chinese studios have been shown at the latest State of Play showcase from Sony

Among the 14 titles shown at this year’s “Non-E3” Sony's State of Play, 4 Chinese games have been presented:

Marvel Rivals (NetEase)
Infinity Nikki (PaperGames)
Where Winds Meet (EverstoneStudio)
Ballad of Antara (TipsWorks)

Other big Chinese titles are expected to be shown and announced during this "Non-E3 period” as well, and we'll even see the release of Black Myth Wukong in August (if everything goes according to plan).

Some Thoughts:

-The ongoing strategic push for internationally launched AAA Chinese-developed games is finally paying off.
From Sony’s own “China Hero Project” triggered a few years ago to help develop major Chinese titles for its consoles, to many other projects from different studios and publishers, we’re now starting to see the results of this fast-approaching wave of games.

-There's still a lot to "prove" however, as we have yet to see a critically acclaimed title actually being released. A lot is expected from “Black Myth: Wukong” in this front…

-From the perspective of wider global audiences, there's still a general lack of awareness (and discourse) about the fact that so many of these games have their origin in Mainland China.

There are several reasons for this, I think:

.The game's general aesthetics. Derivative at times, not "uniquely Chinese" in some titles - as opposed to, say, many Japanese games that look distinctively Japanese and are immediately identifiable as such.
If we look at games like Wukong, Phantom Blade Zero, Where Winds Meet, Ballad of Antara and a few others, it sometimes becomes hard to tell them apart. They’re all generally going for that very high-end tier of realistic graphics with fantasy elements mixed in. Style-wise, they’re fairly similar to eachother’’s.

.Devs and publishers don't openly/actively advertise their origin when promoting these games (not saying they're trying to hide it!)

.Trailers will often use English voice-over instead of Chinese (but not always!)

.Most of these Chinese studios and publishers are unknown to international audiences, even among hardcore gamers. While behemoths like Tencent and NetEase have somewhat managed to establish their names internationally, most others are just now “stepping into the outside world” for the first time.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if audiences know these games are Chinese or not.
What is happening is that the output and export of Chinese games is growing in such a scale that they will become undeniable and organically embraced by gamers worldwide.

No matter how you may feel about China, its politics and soft-power, this is arguably a good phenomenon, as it adds diversity to the gaming industry and the titles available to consumers.