Emerging trends in PC and mobile gaming

• PC gaming is seeing the largest increase in individual spending this year. 62% of PC gamers said they spent more this year than they did last year, with 19% claiming they spent at least 30% more than they did last year.
• Steam maintained its position as the #1 PC game distribution platform in China, with gamers primarily accessing the international version of Steam without a VPN. 79.5% of PC gamers that play premium games use Steam.
• The Mini Game segment has emerged as a major growth area within mobile gaming with approx. 650 million gamers playing them. According to our survey 2/3 of mobile gamers are playing mini games daily or several times a week.

The rise of short video content and platform

• 5% of respondents learn about new video games from short video content, making it the most popular method. This popularity is more pronounced among mobile gamers, while it ranks at #4 for console gamers.
• Over 4 in 10 gamers (43.9%) watch video game / esports livestreams with 68.6% using Douyin.

Other notable trends

• According to our survey, 78.3% of gamers are aware of AIGC technologies and 37.3% of gamers are interested in the technology being applied to games.
• It appears that youth gamer regulations, while effective in curbing game time for those under 18, may be having the oppositive effect for gamers once they become adults. Gamers aged between 18-22, who were minors when youth gamer regulations were passed, play longer hours per week today than those that are 23+.
• Japan has extended its lead as the #1 country for import game approvals and the US regained its #2 position. South Korea being #3 is notable given 0 games from Korea were being approved 3 years ago.