China’s Top Game Rankings for Q1 2025

As the first quarter of 2025 came to a close, competition in the gaming market has intensified amid a battle for market share.

This quarter, several new games have stood out, capturing players’ attention and acclaim. Titles like Love and Deep Space, Shoot the Zombies, and Beyond the World have made a strong impression. Additionally, Tales of Hazelight Studios’ (developer of It Takes Two) new game Twin Mirrors surpassed 1 million copies within 48 hours of release, and within a week, official sales exceeded 2 million. Another standout, Monster Hunter: Wilds, sold over 8 million copies in just three days, making it the fastest-selling entry in the Monster Hunter series. Meanwhile, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the sequel to the classic medieval RPG, quickly topped Steam’s best-seller list upon release and surpassed 1 million copies on its launch day. The indie party game R.E.P.O. generated $8.3 million in revenue within two weeks, peaking at 61,000 concurrent players.

Established games like Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, Fantasy Westward Journey, CrossFire, Identity V, and Genshin Impact continue to dominate with strong momentum, maintaining their foothold in the market with solid performance.

In China’s domestic gaming market, Tencent and NetEase remain industry leaders due to their diverse game portfolios and consistent hits. Meanwhile, emerging developers—such as Shanghai’s “F4” (miHoYo, Paper Games, Lilith Games, and Hypergryph)—are gaining recognition as influential new-generation studios thanks to their high-quality titles.

Currently, China’s gaming market is thriving, with a clear trend toward premium-quality games and an increasing proportion of titles expanding globally. The integration of AI and gaming is also becoming more prominent. Let’s look forward to the developments and transformations in the gaming market for the rest of 2025.