The domestic market breaks a record with 300 billion for the first time.

发布时间：2023.12.15

  Supervised by the State Administration of Press and Publication, supported by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and the Propaganda Department of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee, organised by the China Association of Audiovisual and Digital Publishing (CADPA), Guangzhou Development District Administrative Committee (GDDAC) and People's Government of Guangzhou Huangpu District (GHDP), and carried out by China Association of Audiovisual and Digital Publishing (CAADP) Game Work Committee (GAWC), Propaganda Department of GHDPA, Huangpu Culture (Guangzhou) Development Group Co. The 2023 China Game Industry Annual Conference was successfully concluded on 15 December.

Scene of the 2023 China Game Industry Annual Conference.

China Game Industry Report 2023: Domestic market size exceeds 300 billion and reaches a new high.

  Zhang Yijun, First Vice Chairman of the China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association and Chairman of the Game Industry Committee, officially released the China Game Industry Report 2023 at the event. The report shows that in 2023, the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market was 302.964 billion yuan, up 13.95% year on year, surpassing the 300 billion mark for the first time. The number of users was 668 million, up 0.61% year on year, a new high in history.

  Zhang Yijun pointed out that the main reasons for the year-on-year revenue growth and record high include: the user's consumption willingness and ability to recover; the game new products focused on the market and the emergence of explosive, and long-term operation of the product together to support the growth of revenue; the general use of multi-terminal simultaneous approach to the growth of revenue to produce a significant benefit.

Zhang Yijun, First Vice Chairman of China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association (CAPDA) and Chairman of the Game Work Committee.

  In the field of self-developed games, in 2023, China's self-developed games generated 256.375 billion yuan of actual sales revenue in the domestic market, up 15.29% year on year. In addition, self-developed products overseas real sales revenue of 16.366 billion US dollars, the scale of the fourth consecutive year over 100 billion yuan. However, the data showed a year-on-year decline of 5.65%, indicating that factors such as the turbulent international situation, fierce market competition and changes in data protection policies have increased the difficulty and operating costs of going overseas.

  In the segmented market, mobile games continued to dominate with a year-on-year growth of 17.51% in realised revenue to RMB 226.86 billion; client games continued to increase in realised revenue, accounting for 21.88% of the total; and web games continued to shrink, accounting for only 1.57% of the total.

  As for the overall operation of the game industry in 2023, Zhang Yijun summed it up as follows:

  First, the compliance and self-discipline of practitioners and the protection of minors have been normalised;

  Second, although the domestic game market is obviously picking up, the pressure is still high and confidence needs to be strengthened;

  Third, the business model has been newly expanded and operational efficiency has been improved through technology development and application exploration;

  Fourth, the continuous layout of the overseas market, in a highly competitive environment, overseas sales declined slightly;

  Fifth, self-developed products have become the mainstream of tapping and spreading the excellent traditional Chinese culture;

  Sixth, the far-reaching impact of the entry of e-sports in Asia has opened up new opportunities for the development of the industry;

  Seventh, "game +" cross-border empowerment, social benefit and corporate responsibility have been newly embodied.

  Looking ahead to 2024, Zhang Yijun suggests that all practitioners need to pay special attention to the following new situations and trends:

  First, the promulgation of the Regulations on Online Protection of Minors has provided more specific guidelines for the game industry to improve and implement the protection of minors;

  Second, the implementation of the "Online Game Excellence Publishing Project" has set new standards and requirements for the standardisation and sustainable development of China's game industry;

  Third, the inheritance and promotion of excellent traditional Chinese culture has become the consensus of the industry and will be reflected in the creation of masterpieces;

  Fourth, the game industry's scientific and technological innovation capability and cross-border empowerment effect will be further enhanced and strengthened;

  Fifth, with the globalisation process of China's game industry, international exchanges and cooperation will become more frequent and deeper.

Yang Fang, Publication Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department: Adhere to the law and innovation, and promote the high-quality development of the industry to show a new image and realise a new achievement.

Yang Fang, Deputy Director of the Publicity Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department

  Yang Fang, deputy director of the Publication Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, said that the online game industry, as an important force in cultural construction and an important aspect of the cultural industry, should seriously study and understand Xi Jinping's cultural thoughts, be firm in cultural self-confidence, adhere to righteousness and innovation, and strive to create a new atmosphere and make new achievements in promoting the high-quality development of the industry.

  We should adhere to the pursuit of culture and consciously disseminate mainstream values and culture: we should adhere to the position of Chinese culture, uphold noble cultural sentiments and the pursuit of values, vigorously promote socialist core values, and consciously enrich the connotation of the game with excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, so that people can feel the charm of culture in the game and be imbued with culture.

  We should put the people first and create more masterpieces that enhance the people's spiritual strength: adapt to the new expectations of the masses' culture and create more masterpieces with ideological energy, cultural connotations and aesthetic values that meet the physical and mental characteristics and cultural needs of users of different ages, so that people can be enlightened and nourished by interesting and useful, beneficial and loving game experiences.

  Close to the State Press and Publication Administration on the implementation of online games of excellence in publishing project "Notice" put forward the main direction: to strengthen the selection of the theme of argumentation, careful creation and production, the introduction of more positive energy game boutique.

  Adhere to innovation-driven, vigorously promote the application of scientific and technological innovation: Focus on the high level of scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance, combined with the characteristics of the online game industry, and actively embrace the application of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data and other cutting-edge technologies, and continue to strengthen the game engine, virtual reality, sensory interaction, motion capture and other key core technology research and development, to drive the industry's development through technological innovation to the development of the industry feeds the technological innovation, and further cultivate development advantages and enhance the momentum of development. To further cultivate development advantages and enhance development momentum.

  We should insist on standardised development and jointly create a healthy and sustainable development order: coordinate development and security, strengthen content orientation and quality control of works, strictly implement management requirements, promote the implementation of anti-obsession requirements, consciously correct the wrong tendency of undesirable content and induced consumption, resolutely eliminate unauthorised version change and irregularities such as operating online without a version number, and guide the standardised and orderly development of small games, cloud games, VR games, TV games, etc., and establish a clear and stable development order. We will guide the development of small games, cloud games, VR games and TV games in a standardised and orderly manner, and build a Qinglang industry ecology.

  We should insist on openness and cooperation, and actively promote Chinese culture to the world: Make full use of the unique advantages of games in telling good stories, spreading culture and communicating with people; encourage game companies to actively carry out global design and international operation; guide domestic games that go overseas to incorporate more spiritual symbols and cultural essence of Chinese civilisation; and actively display the spiritual and cultural outlook of contemporary China, so as to create a series of game brands with a strong Chinese flavour and first-class international influence, so as to make China's games more attractive to the world and make China's games more popular. We will also create a series of game brands with a strong Chinese flavour and first-class international influence, so that Chinese games can become cultural messengers and cultural bridges between China and foreign countries, and help enhance the soft power of national culture and the influence of Chinese culture.

CAPDA Sun Shoushan: Take up the cultural mission and promote the spirit of the times

Sun Shoushan, Chairman of the CAADPA

  Sun Shoushan, chairman of the China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association, said that the game industry has always occupied an important position in the development of the cultural industry. The industry continues to explore the presentation, integration and development of Chinese culture inside and outside the game, and has made remarkable achievements: by focusing on diversified development, enterprises are giving full play to the cultural dissemination and influence of game products, and promoting inter-industry cooperation with "Game+". In expressing cultural elements, game companies generally draw inspiration from historical figures, traditional architecture and cultural practices to enrich the expression of game content.

  According to the cultural research report conducted by the Game Industry Committee, 84% of companies used traditional Chinese characters in the design of game characters, and 98% used traditional Chinese cultural elements in the design of game environments and objects. In terms of cultural content selection, the dimension of traditional cultural content selected by enterprises has become richer, from initially relying mainly on classic masterpieces such as Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, to gradually expanding to include folk tales, myths and legends, as well as poems, lyrics, songs and fables and other cultural forms, which greatly enriches the cultural connotation of game products. In terms of cultural export, China's games have now covered 91 countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Meanwhile, as more and more games focus on the expression of Chinese culture, overseas players can deeply experience and feel the unique charm of Chinese culture through games.

  According to a report released by the Working Committee, overseas users of Chinese games have an overall higher evaluation of China's national image by more than 20% compared to foreign people who have not played Chinese games. The industry is moving towards the goals of "macro-industry with culture", "casting souls with culture" and "leading the way with culture", and has made new achievements in its efforts to pool cultural resources, enrich product performance, deepen core values, promote international exchanges and strengthen the diversified and synergistic development of the industry.

  Sun Shoushan pointed out that at present, China's game industry is still facing some problems in the process of applying and developing China's excellent traditional culture, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. In the future development of how to give full play to the game as an important carrier of cultural transmission and dissemination of the role of how to shape the socialist core values, better take on the cultural mission, strengthen the content construction, the dissemination of Chinese culture and ideological concepts of the era of the unique spiritual value of the game, want should be in the following aspects of the focus of efforts:

  Firstly, we should be sensitive to the research, further in-depth excavation, accurate expression of traditional Chinese culture. Chinese culture has a long history and is profound. Enterprises presenting traditional cultural content in the game should be guided by the Marxist concept of materialistic history, adhere to the correct view of history, dig deeper into the connotation of excellent traditional Chinese culture, refine spiritual identity and accurately express the core ideological concepts. This requires enterprises to strengthen the study of relevant traditional cultural content during the development process, and integrate and promote the representative core content into the game through the study of historical texts and literature. At the same time, companies should organise project developers to experience folk activities, understand local culture and pay attention to the development of the times, so that the game design is close to the reality of people's lives. In this way, companies can avoid misinterpretation of historical figures and events, put an end to misunderstanding and misuse of cultural symbols, and help players form a correct perception of traditional culture through game experience.

  Second, we should make good use of the situation and continue to try to build a platform for cooperation between the cultural industry, universities and research. The Association will play its role in organising industry-related conferences, conducting research seminars and other activities to provide communication channels for game companies to communicate with the industry inside and outside, and actively try to build an industry-university-research cooperation platform focusing on the application of games and the development of traditional culture. On the one hand, we will make full use of our resource advantages to strengthen communication between the industry and academia, and promote the practical application of relevant academic achievements in the industry. We will help enterprises to cooperate with experts and scholars, and invite experts with in-depth knowledge of relevant traditional culture content to hold training courses, academic lectures or participate in project development, so as to reduce the communication costs for enterprises to seek professional opinions. On the other hand, strengthen inter-industry exchanges, provide channels for enterprises to cooperate with local museums, cultural pavilions and non-genetic inheritors, provide enterprises with more diversified traditional cultural resources, and help the industry to explore more diversified forms of industrial cooperation.

  Third, it should be widely disseminated and further combine various ways to exert the influence of game culture. Companies should continue to actively explore multiple ways to disseminate outstanding traditional Chinese culture through games, both "in" and "out". "In" means spreading traditional Chinese culture through game content; "out" requires companies to go beyond the boundaries of game products and create a cultural ecosystem that connects inside and outside the game, online and offline. Not only can we expand the traditional cultural content of the game by combining short videos, live broadcasts, player community activities and other online methods so that players can understand the historical stories, traditional festivals, folklore and legends behind the game's design; we can also link the game content to real life by organising offline activities such as experience exhibitions and player exchanges to stimulate players' interest in actively exploring and sharing traditional culture. Thus, in a multi-dimensional, multi-channel and diversified way, the game can further exert its influence in spreading the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

  Fourth, we should go overseas to further promote international cross-cultural exchanges. At present, China's game industry has gained a relative advantage in the overseas market and become an important force for Chinese culture to go out; in the future, the industry should continue to make efforts on the basis of the existing market advantages, further expand the influence of traditional culture and shape a new global popular culture. Specifically, when developing products for the global market, companies should be based on building a community of human destiny, promoting common values of mankind, creating emotional resonance through game experience, stimulating overseas players' interest in Chinese culture and willingness to explore, and promoting cross-cultural understanding and exchanges. At the same time, set up overseas studios or cooperate with local operating companies, pay close attention to overseas player communities, understand users' needs and ideas, make targeted designs and adjustments to game content, or guide players' public opinion in a timely manner, so as to reduce misunderstandings caused by cultural differences. Tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese voices with an attitude of equality, mutual benefit and friendly cooperation.