Intelligence platform monitored that during the first quarter of 2018 just past, the classic “Hearthstone Legend” from US Blizzard Entertainment and “Kick the Buddy” from German developer Chill Fleet late last year made the Top 10 list of downloads. Meanwhile, the Western developers represented by the leading titles on the download chart are more diverse than those on the revenue chart, with more countries and developers.
On the revenue list, except for Sniper 3D Assassin, which comes from Brazilian developer Fun Games For Free, Chinese players most prefer kryptonite in titles from American, Russian, and Finnish developers. Blizzard Entertainment’s classic masterpiece “Hearthstone Legend” took the top spot; more notably, the highest revenue source for “Hearthstone Legend” for iOS, which launched in 2014, has also been the Chinese market.
In addition to Blizzard Entertainment, another game giant from the United States (Electronic Arts) two of its sports hand games “NBA LIVE” and “FIFA ONLINE 3 M” both hit the Top 10, while the Chinese version of the company PopCap (PopCap) developed in 2013 “Plants vs Zombies 2” also on the list.
Finnish game company Supercell two “clash of clans” classic masterpiece in addition to popular in Europe and the United States market, last quarter from China’s revenue is also the second in the world, after the United States. And it’s worth noting that Tencent acquired 84.3% of Supercell in the summer of 2016; while the two Clash of Clans titles that ranked second and fourth came from the West, the ultimate beneficiary may still be the Chinese gaming giant.
Russian developer Playrix Games has always been particularly popular in China, with three successive titles in the past five years all hitting the top 10: “Dream Garden”, “Dream Home” and “Dream Town”. Q1 saw a global runner-up in kryptonite from Chinese iOS players for all three titles, second to the largest market, the US.
On the download chart, we can observe a more diverse range of European and American countries and developers taking their place. The champion work is the action mini-game “Kick the Buddy” launched by German developer Chill Fleet in November last year. While the game is most popular with U.S. players, Q1 downloads from Chinese iOS players were basically on par with the U.S. market, accounting for the second largest share worldwide. Two titles from the Tom Cat series by British company Outfit7 Limited made the list: Talking Tom Gold Run and Talking Tom Pool; both titles were the most popular among Chinese players globally, with the largest share of downloads in the last quarter, and Outfit7 Limited was also acquired by a Chinese consortium early last year.
Another notable title in the double chart is the only one from Denmark, Playdead’s INSIDE. Playdead’s INSIDE, which is not localized, was launched in mid-December last year and quickly became a hit among Chinese iOS players, once reaching the top three of the single-day free list of Chinese App Store games for four consecutive days, making it the world’s top iOS download from Chinese players. It is still one of the western works preferred by Chinese people, ranking sixth in terms of downloads, ahead of the hot casual mini-game “Snake VS Block” from Voodoo of France.
Opportunities for European and American handheld games in China
As the Chinese game market continues to expand, it is to be expected that overseas game companies are committed to breaking into the Chinese market. However, due to the obvious advantages of domestic games in terms of national aesthetics, domestic policies, and marketing channels, the challenges faced by European and American game companies are multiple. Among the Western developers on the list, we can see various strategies to enter the Chinese market: cooperating with domestic publishers to launch Chinese games, being acquired by Chinese companies, or establishing offices in China, and so on. But we can also observe works that have risen to national fame thanks to their content and timing. What will be the trajectory of European and American titles in China? We’ll keep watching.
