adminChinese mobile games have become major players in global markets, supported by experienced teams, intensive live operations and a long history of free-to-play development. Western studios still have established hits, but competing through sheer scale may not be realistic. A stronger strategy may be to build smaller, more focused teams that combine creative judgment with efficient processes.
Image credit: Double Infinite
Tanja Loktionova is the founder of Values Value and co-founder of InGame Job.
How Chinese mobile games built a global lead
In February 2026, seven of the 15 highest-grossing mobile games worldwide were Chinese-owned titles. Together, they generated $668 million in in-app purchase revenue that month, according to AppMagic. Western publishers including Playrix, King, Roblox Corporation and Supercell remain among the leading mobile publishers, but their chart positions rely heavily on established games. In 2025, no Western studio had a new launch among the 15 highest-grossing games in Tier-1 Western markets.
Chinese games earned $20.5 billion overseas in 2025. That marked a tenth consecutive year of growth and a second consecutive year of double-digit expansion. This progress reflects a series of developments rather than market size alone.
During the early 2000s, widespread PC piracy in China made paid upfront games difficult to sustain. Local developers increasingly turned to free-to-play, building expertise in player spending and ongoing operations years before mobile gaming became the global focus. That experience continues to influence how Chinese studios manage games after launch.
China’s domestic mobile market provided a demanding training ground. In 2025, the country had 772 million active gamers and a games market worth approximately $50.1 billion. Mobile accounted for 73.29% of revenue, according to China Daily. Intense competition helped studios develop sophisticated approaches to monetisation and live operations.
Practical takeaway: For studios assessing these markets, the important lesson is not simply to copy a monetisation model. It is to understand how player research, product design and ongoing updates work together over a game’s lifetime.
From strategy games to casual hits
Chinese publishers first made significant inroads overseas with strategy games, particularly 4X titles. Games such as Rise of Kingdoms and Game of Empires attracted international audiences through carefully designed progression and frequent live events. Nearly half of the top 100 Chinese-made mobile games ranked by overseas revenue in 2025 were strategy titles, according to a Meridian Play report.
After strategy came mid-core games. Chinese developers are now gaining ground in casual and hybrid-casual categories, including puzzle, merge and match games—genres long associated with Western studios.
Image caption: 4X release Game of Empires was an early hit. Image credit: Droupnir Entertainment.
These games may look simple, but they can demand substantial operational effort. AppMagic reported an average of 89 live-ops events per mobile game per month in 2025, with the figure continuing to rise. As downloads decline and user acquisition becomes more expensive, keeping existing players engaged and encouraging lapsed players to return have become essential parts of the business.
Why teams and organisational systems matter
Chinese studios often work with large, concentrated talent pools and organisational structures designed to support extensive teams and continuous operations. The article’s central argument is that Western companies are unlikely to match this approach by hiring indefinitely or restructuring at the same pace. Attempting to compete on workforce size alone can be costly and difficult to sustain.
Talent also tends to circulate within China, where a substantial domestic industry supports career development. That can help knowledge remain within organisations and build over time. For companies outside China, acquiring individual specialists may not be enough: important capabilities can depend on the working relationships, routines and experience of an entire team.
Some Chinese companies have pursued acquisitions or studio arrangements that bring established teams together. One founder, speaking anonymously because of ongoing industry relationships, described an acquisition offer that included relocating the full team to China. The proposed support covered relocation costs and legal assistance for families, including visas, work permits, schools and kindergartens. The example illustrates why an acquisition may be aimed at preserving a functioning group rather than simply hiring individual employees.
Practical takeaway: When considering a studio partnership or acquisition, evaluate how knowledge is shared across the team. Roles, workflows and collaboration can be as important as individual résumés.
Cultural understanding can shape better games
Production efficiency alone does not guarantee a game will resonate with players in different regions. Visual style, interface conventions and character design can all require local understanding. One example is Skymoons, a Chengdu-based mobile game developer that expanded its art capabilities into Europe.
In 2017, Skymoons opened an art studio in Kyiv, Ukraine, and established a separate art division in Edinburgh, Scotland. Values Value was involved in developing the Kyiv operation, including placing the studio head, advising on the office setup and supporting key hires.
The locations were selected for access to Western visual sensibilities, rather than lower salaries. The aim was to help teams understand choices such as interface density, colour and character readability, then feed that knowledge into production. This is different from treating an overseas studio solely as an outsourcing provider: it can help translate creative decisions for a specific audience.
In July 2018, Baidu-backed entertainment platform iQIYI acquired Skymoons for $190 million, with the value potentially increasing to $300 million if performance milestones were reached. Jason Chiu, then senior director of corporate development at Skymoons, said the Kyiv and Edinburgh operations contributed considerable value to the acquisition.
Building expertise through collaboration
Acquisitions and studio creation are not the only ways to develop expertise. Chinese companies have also sought advice from specialists in areas such as level and game design, product ownership, game economies, balancing and monetisation. Values Value reported receiving indications that some consultants were offered $300 to $1,000 per hour.
The roles sought can reveal which capabilities companies want to strengthen. Art directors and principal-level creatives make strategic visual decisions, while line artists generally execute them. Bringing in senior creative expertise can therefore help a studio develop its own judgment and direction, rather than simply increase production capacity.
Expert collaboration has also extended beyond mobile games. The article describes external creative professionals from entertainment, streaming and animation backgrounds taking part in joint sessions and embedded production roles. Together, this kind of input can help teams connect player psychology, progression systems and cultural knowledge—areas that can be difficult to reproduce by observing finished games alone.
Practical takeaway: Studios can make external advice more useful by defining a clear problem, documenting what the team learns and turning recommendations into repeatable internal practices.
AI adds speed, but does not replace strategy
AI tools are another part of the competitive picture. Speaking on the Two and a Half Gamers podcast in October 2025, Chen Yang (Iwae), ecosystem operations lead at Cocos, said that a survey he cited found more than 80% of Chinese developers already using AI in areas including art, code, operations and user acquisition. He also described a small team using AI tools to develop a minimum viable product in two weeks.
Fast production can help teams test ideas and respond to emerging trends. Iwae gave the example of a popular TikTok meme appearing in game levels soon after it gained attention. However, speed is most useful when supported by sound product decisions, effective live operations and a clear understanding of the intended audience.
AppsFlyer’s State of Gaming for Marketers reported that Chinese publishers accounted for 35% of global mobile user-acquisition spending, up 22% year on year. In 2025, their market share gains were concentrated in Tier-1 Western markets: 15% in the United States, 26% in the United Kingdom, 31% in Germany and 34% in France.
How Western studios can compete
Western companies may find it difficult to match the scale, spending and operating pace of their Chinese competitors. A more practical response is to focus on talent density: enabling smaller teams to make high-impact decisions and use their time and tools effectively.
- Invest in experienced teams. Treat recruitment, performance and retention as connected priorities, not isolated tasks.
- Build efficient processes. Clear decision-making and repeatable workflows can help teams move quickly without relying on constant headcount growth.
- Use AI selectively. Apply tools where they can support experimentation and production, while retaining human judgment over quality and direction.
- Develop distinctive creative ideas. Cultural insight, taste and strong creative choices can help a game stand apart from products built primarily for rapid iteration.
- Plan live operations early. Consider how a game will maintain player interest after launch, rather than treating updates as an afterthought.
Chinese companies have built a progression from domestic success to overseas strategy games, mid-core releases and now casual and hybrid-casual titles. AI and substantial user-acquisition spending may further strengthen that position. Western studios are unlikely to win by copying the same model at smaller scale. Their opportunity is to combine focused teams, strong creative judgment and disciplined execution to make games that feel genuinely distinctive.
The future of Chinese mobile games will continue to influence the global market. For Western companies, competing effectively means identifying where their own teams can create more value—not merely trying to become larger.
