According to the latest report, domestic gamers show “high interest” in generating AI. The China Player Practices and Market Insight Report, released by Niko Partners on 27 August 2025, shows the image, behaviour patterns and participation of the 2025 players through research on 1058 Chinese players. The report found that 39.4 per cent of Chinese players were interested in the application of generating AI and 85.2 per cent were aware of the technology.
It noted that the Chinese games studio was in the lead in this area and that 60 per cent of the studios were already using the Generating AI in the development process. In particular, the report refers to “the integration of many of the generated AI features into the “Reverse Cold” hand-drive to enable players to interact with smart NPCs or to use game roles to generate custom video.”
The report also found that live video games and games continued to be key areas in the Chinese market. 45.6 per cent of the respondents indicated that they had participated in electric competitions (including contests or games), and one quarter indicated that they regularly watched the games live and that “Webred and anchors played a key role in the marketing of the games”. The importance of the short video platform continues to grow, serving as a “core marketing channel for game developers to reach domestic players”. Forty-one per cent of Chinese players obtain new game information via short video platforms, going beyond the game platform shop (38.7 per cent), social media (33.9 per cent), communication software (33.4 per cent) and red anchors (31.6 per cent). The report emphasizes that “short video is the main source of information for mobile and PC players”, while host players rely more on the recommendations of the platform.
The Applet Game has become a significant growth point for the Chinese market. This type of game, “Face-in-the-point, non-download, micro-screech, etc.”, covers 84.4 per cent of Chinese players, of whom 17.7 per cent are women and 10.3 per cent are men. According to Niko Partners: “The Applet Game is reaching a wider group of people with a revenue of nearly 10 per cent of the total value of Chinese games.”
The Market Model Report, released by Niko Partners in June this year, shows that the revenue from play software and services in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa reached $86.6 billion in 2024, an increase of 1.4 per cent over the previous year. By 2029, the market size of these areas is expected to grow steadily to $96 billion.
