Jinwu Financial News | In 2024, the number of game approvals in China showed a positive trend. A total of 1,417 games were approved throughout the year, including 1306 domestic games and 111 imported games, an increase of 32% over 1,076 games in 2023, exceeding Citi's previous forecast of 1200-1400. On December 24, the State Press and Publication Administration released the approval results for the 12th batch of 122 domestic games and the 7th batch of 13 imported games. A number of key games from major manufacturers such as Tencent (00700) and NetEase (09999) were approved, such as Tencent's “Monster Hunter: Traveler”, “Red Alert: Honor”, NetEase's “Number One Chase” and “Infinity”. At the same time, A-share game companies such as 37 Interactive and Kaiying Network also made gains. Citi expects the number of games approved in 2025 to be roughly 1,300-1,500, with about 1200-1,350 games made in China, and probably around 100-150 imported games.
Citi believes that with the continuous improvement in the quantity and quality of game supply, the Chinese game industry is expected to maintain a healthy development trend in 2025, bring stable profit flows to enterprises, and resist the influence of uncertain factors such as geopolitics to a certain extent. The continuous promotion of game approval has injected impetus into the development of the industry. High-quality game projects obtained by major manufacturers will help them occupy an advantageous position in market competition, and the overall prospects of the industry are optimistic.
