A new report from Gamma Data (CNG) revealed that mobile game sales in China saw a 25% year-over-year decline. The intelligence firm stated that China has had its worst sales quarter since Q1 2020 and said, “Compared with the same period last year, the numbers of active users and hours dropped significantly, and spending power has weakened.”
Related: GameRefinery shares Mobile Game Market Review for September
The worst quarter since Q1 2020 would mean that Q3 of 2022 is the worst quarter since the beginning of COVID quarantines. As a result of the sales drop, the Chinese mobile game market suffered heavily, as it saw a decline of 19% compared to Q3 of 2021. The market brought in total revenue of $8 billion.
The news came from South China Morning Post, as the company stated that the third quarter of the year is always an advantage for the game industry because of school summer breaks. Last year, new regulations were implemented and saw game time and spending limitations for minors. It looks like the bans still have an impact on the industry, even to this day.
The report also shared that in H1 2022, the combined revenue of China’s game market saw its first decline since 2008. Along with game time limitations, the country had a freeze period for game licensing that ended in April this year, as only last month did Tencent and NetEase receive game licensing in China for the first time since the freeze. These two regulations that were implemented last year might be the cause of this decline in the market.
CNG also mentioned that canceled titles in the country rose by 89% compared to Q2 2022, as at least one out of ten games that were shut down belonged to Tencent. However, Tencent is still doing fine in China, as Honor of Kings and the Chinese version of PUBG Mobile is going strong in the market.
This month, Tencent was rumored to be planning a change in its acquisition strategy, shifting focus to majority stake deals.
