The Effects of the Chinese Regulatory Environment

China continues to dominate the global video games industry, generating an impressive $47.5 billion in revenue in 2023 and boasting a player base of over 700 million. However, the country maintains strict regulatory oversight, enforcing policies that range from time restrictions to licensing requirements for both domestic and foreign titles. Recent draft regulations introduced by the government have unsettled the market, leading to investor uncertainty. Many shareholders have considered divesting from Chinese games companies, with the ripple effects even impacting Western firms.

This Knowledge Brief aims to explore the evolution of video games regulations in China and provide a balanced analysis of their potential impact on this industry. While regulations can create challenges, they also shape the market in significant ways. This is a must read for companies monitoring China’s games market and regulatory environment.

Niko Knowledge Briefs are timely short-form topic reports written by Niko’s senior analysts using Niko’s proprietary data on Asia and MENA. Based on Niko's proprietary data and insights, we write and publish a new Knowledge Brief every two weeks. These short-form reports empower companies to access Niko's high-integrity data, insights, and research in a bite-sized format.