China’s video game market saw a year-on-year decline of 10.3% – the first decline since 2003.
While the world’s largest video gaming market recorded total revenue of over US$44.23 billion in 2021, the 2022 numbers are expected to drop to US$40.1 billion, To South China Morning Post.
Furthermore, the study revealed that the number of gamers in China is set to decline by 0.33% between 2021 and 2022, falling to 664 million players.
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“The whole industry is under pressure,” declared Gaming Publishing Committee of China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association on wechat.
The government agency links this industry shock to COVID-19 restrictions, limited production and R&D activities, difficulty in hiring new talent, lack of investor confidence, reduced spending by consumers and intense competition from overseas markets.
Furthermore, the drop in revenue can also be linked to China’s stricter policy on game licensing: in 2022, the country will license 200 fewer games than in 2021.
In addition, mobile game sales also decreased by 14.4% (down to US$28.61 billion) and the esports industry fell by 14% (down to US$21.42 billion).
it is also worth noting Tencent Holdings TCEHYThe world’s largest gaming company by revenue and the firm behind huge titles like “League of Legends” and “Valorant” saw gaming revenue decline 4% during the third quarter.
netage NTESIts competitor, reported a deceleration in gaming revenue growth, with growth of 9.1% compared to the 15% growth seen in the same period last year.
See also: Xi Jinping’s government is gearing up to buy ‘golden shares’ in local units of Alibaba, Tencent – FT
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