The NPPA has licensed a total of 850 domestic titles in the first eight months of this year, compared with 609 in the same period in 2023.
The large number of titles approved in August reflects the significant recovery in China’s video gaming market since April 2022, when Beijing resumed licensing titles for the domestic market after an eight-month regulatory freeze.
The increased pace of approvals also comes amid the resounding success of action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong – developed by Tencent-backed studio Game Science and based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West – which is a huge hit for both domestic and overseas gamers.
That strong demand for the game augurs well for the prospect of consumer spending in China’s video gaming market this year, which industry research firm Newzoo has projected to reach US$45 billion.