Niko Partners has released a report on the situation of Chinese gamers, showing that many of them have quit gaming.
Because of the current strict regulations such as playing time limits, deposit amounts and gaming age, more and more people are bored and away from the game. However, the company also predicts that the numbers will increase again in 2026.
Last year, China introduced new regulations limiting playtime for minors. Specifically, they reduced playtime to just 3 hours a week. As Niko reports, this causes a lot of young gamers to quit gaming altogether. Before these regulations, 60% of young people in China were gamers. After they rolled out, the number dropped to 40%. According to the report, 77% of young gamers play less thanks to these rules.
However, Niko expects the numbers to rebound as the industry adopts new regulations. The agency predicts that the number of young Chinese gamers will grow to 115 million by 2026, instead of 83 million now and 122 million at its peak in 2020. E-sports remains almost universal. in the gaming community like never before. The report also revealed that it is common for parents to allow their children to use their IDs to pass the deadline.
Lisa Hanson, founder and president of Niko Partners, said in a statement: “As soon as Niko Partners learned of the regulation that limits youth games to a specific 3 hours per week, we learned that it was will affect the overall game and e-sports market in China. The findings of this report reflect the strong impact, but teen gamers remain an important part of the games market. Gamers, developers, and game publishers will necessarily adjust to the new system in the years to come.”
Niko Partners’ five-year forecast for China’s video game market to grow through 2026. This forecast is based on two separate reports: one focusing on mobile games and the other on gaming. play PC.
The number of gamers in China in 2021 is 706 million, a decrease from the previous year. But the total is projected to grow to 730 million by 2026. A big factor in slower-than-normal growth is the playtime regulations China implements in 2021. Limits on Legitimate playtime eventually pushed a lot of young gamers out of the market altogether. China also temporarily “freezes” game licensing around that time, but began re-issuing licenses in April of this year.
This is not the first time China has stopped issuing licenses and then started issuing them again. The Chinese government withdrew this same move in 2018 and 2019 but still did not give a reason why. Regardless of why, newly established licenses allow licensees to start earning revenue, which is a positive sign for the industry as a whole.
The Niko Partners report also predicts an increase in average revenue generated per user. In 2021, the ARPU is $64.44, which is expected to grow to $75.60 per user over the next few years. Given the size of mobile gaming in China, it’s easy to speculate on that kind of growth.