China’s video gaming firms bet on overseas revenue growth amid weak home market

Overseas sales of China-developed video games in 2024 increased 13.4 per cent from a year earlier to US$18.6 billion

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Chinese video game studios are doubling down on exporting high-quality titles to overseas markets. Photo: Shutterstock

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 7:00am, 9 May 2025

China’s video gaming companies saw their overseas operations emerge as key revenue driver in 2024 amid slow growth in the domestic market, according to a survey of these firms’ latest annual results.

Chinese video game studios are now doubling down on exporting high-quality titles to foreign markets, according to Zhang Shule, an analyst with CBJ Think Tank.

The trend follows the years-long effort of both Tencent Holdings and NetEase to expand the global reach of China’s video gaming sector.

Hong Kong-listed Tencent, which runs the world’s largest video gaming business by revenue, saw its 2024 profit rise 68 per cent from a year earlier to 194 billion yuan (US$26.8 billion), as revenue from international games grew 9 per cent to 58 billion yuan. The Shenzhen-based firm’s battle royale game PUBG Mobile last year ranked second in overseas revenue among Chinese game developers, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Hangzhou-based NetEase, also listed in Hong Kong, saw its video gaming revenue last year increase 2.5 per cent from a year ago to 83.6 billion yuan. It did not disclose the size of its overseas business.

Shares of Tencent closed up 1.67 per cent to HK$498 on Thursday, while NetEase slipped 0.12 per cent to HK$165.90.

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