With a 13% increase in domestic sales to 303 billion yuan ($42.6 billion) this year, Beijing’s 8-month crackdown on the video gaming industry two years ago is already in the past.
At a meeting on Friday in Guangzhou, the industry organization CGIGC said that this year’s domestic revenue had crossed 300 billion yuan for the first time. Additionally, it said that China now has a record 668 million gamers—more than the whole population of North America—having grown by 0.61%.
After Beijing’s eight-month crackdown on the gaming sector due to worries about gaming addiction, China’s gaming income decreased for the first time last year. The country’s largest gaming market has now resumed growing, marking a major reversal.
China’s game industry grew further as Beijing highlighted the need for technological independence. Homegrown gaming income increased to 256 billion yuan annually, a 15% increase over the previous year.
Chinese video games’ export revenue, however, suffered as nations like India scrutinized them more closely for reasons of national security. China’s income from international gaming decreased 5.65% in 2023 to $16.3 billion.
Chinese anime-style games, including “Genshin Impact” by miHoYo, became more well-known and profitable, and this year’s sales of these games on smartphones increased by 31% to 31 billion yuan from the previous year.
Tencent, the largest gaming company in China, has seen growth this year after reporting its first-ever revenue decrease the previous year, which is indicative of the industry’s comeback.
With the aid of popular video games like “Egg Party,” Tencent’s competitor NetEase also had a great year, with its shares rising by more than 40%.
The video game industry is anticipated to grow to $249.60 billion by 2023, according to Statista. Between 2023 and 2028, this is predicted to expand at a 9.32% annual pace, reaching $389.70 billion by that time.
The worldwide gaming industry is projected to grow from $221.6 billion in 2023 to $471.3 billion by 2032, according to IMARC Group.
Newzoo projects that the worldwide gaming business will bring in $187.7 billion in sales by 2023, a 2.6% annual increase. Thirty percent of this year’s worldwide income will come from $56.1 billion in revenue from console games.
With record-breaking game reviews, Axios claims that 2023 has been one of the finest years ever for video game releases.
In 2023, game makers have reportedly been delving into the possibilities presented by immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), according to iXie Gaming.
