The enthusiasm of Chinese people for mobile games has been proven by their reaction to Pokemon Go, an artificial reality (AR) game which has not even been launched in China.
Their enthusiasm has correspondingly brought the Chinese mobile game market to a new level.
According to the latest report by American market research firm App Annie, China surpassed the U.S. and become the No. 1 country in the world in terms of iOS game revenue in Q2 2016.
The report also indicated that games have contributed 75% of the total iOS revenue. Specifically, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games by domestic developers were the driving forces of the revenue increase of iOS games in China.
App Annie said international game developers have to work with Chinese game publishers if they were to win Chinese players’ hearts. Clash Royale by Finnish developer Supercell was one of the few successful foreign games, which ranked tenth in terms of contribution to the iOS games revenue in China in Q2 2016.
App Annie also listed the hottest iOS games in China up to Friday. Chinese games unsurprisingly dominate the top 10 list.
On iPhones, MMORPGs Fantasy Westward Journey and Westward Journey Online, both by China’s leading portal and game developer Netease, ranked first and fourth; flying/shooting game Quanmin Feiji Dazhan and MOBA Hero Moba, both by Chinese tech giant and game developer Tencent, took the second and third places. Supercell’s Clash Royale was at the 30th place.
The list on iPads was also topped by Fantasy Westward Journey, followed by Quanmin Feiji Dazhan, and Hero Moba. Westward Journey Online ranked fifth, while Supercell’s Clash of Clans was at the tenth place.
And, a quick reminder: Supercell was acquired by Tencent at USD 8.6 billion in June.
The market revenue for Chinese mobile games reached USD 7.1 billion in 2015, according to a report by market research firms Newzoo and TalkingData.They predicted that number would reach USD 10 billion by the end of 2016.
(Top photo from youtube.com)
App Annie’s new rankings by 1pm Friday showd changes in the first four places (from 1st to 4th): Quanmin Feiji Dazhan, Fantasy Westward Journey, Hero Moba, Westward Journey Online.