Full Wrap-Up Report of ChinaJoy 2026

Record 438,900 Visitors, AI Reshapes Industry, Global Overseas Ecosystem Takes Shape, Citywide Cultural & Consumption Integration Realized

On August 3, the 23rd China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference (ChinaJoy 2026) concluded its four-day exhibition in Shanghai. Centered on the theme Level Up with AI, the expo covered over 140,000 sq.m. of exhibition space, gathering nearly 900 exhibitors from 39 countries and regions. It built a full industrial ecosystem spanning game R&D, artificial intelligence, esports hardware, cross-border payment, digital marketing and ACG creation. This edition set new all-time highs in visitor volume, industrial influence and urban consumption, revealing three irreversible long-term trends for the global digital entertainment sector: AI industrialization, globalized content export, and youth-oriented consumerization.

1. Official Record-Breaking Statistics

1.1 Visitor Metrics

• Total four-day attendance hit 438,900, a 6.97% year-on-year surge, marking the highest turnout in ChinaJoy history.
• Youth demographic dominates: 65% of visitors aged 18–29; 63% traveled from cities outside Shanghai, reflecting nationwide fan enthusiasm.
• Professional visitors reached 44,245, with overseas industry practitioners accounting for 21%, demonstrating rising global demand for cross-border collaboration.

1.2 Scale & Globalization Indicators

• Close to 900 exhibitors from 39 territories, 44% of B2B booths operated by overseas brands, including 275 foreign enterprises.
• Two core zones: 120,000 sq.m. B2C public experience hall, and 25,000 sq.m. B2B business negotiation hall, hosting over 100 supporting events including CDEC Global Industry Summit, AI-themed forums, SNK esports tournaments and indie game roadshows.
• National pavilions from Russia, South Korea, Poland, Spain, the Philippines and other nations were established, uniting global publishers, payment providers and marketing agencies for overseas expansion cooperation.

1.3 Urban Consumption Stimulation

Independent big data evaluation shows attendees drove approximately 709 million RMB in aggregate spending across Shanghai’s catering, accommodation, transportation, retail and cultural sectors. Four major commercial districts (Longyang Road, Lujiazui, North Bund, Wujiaochang) recorded a 10.65% YoY growth of 306 million RMB in retail and F&B revenue. The organizer partnered with over 600 retail chains, hotels and cultural attractions to launch ticket-linked exclusive offers, forming an integrated “exhibition + shopping + tourism” consumption loop and maximizing exhibition economic multiplier effects.

2. Four Core Industrial Trends Identified

Trend 1: AI Evolves from Marketing Buzzword to Fundamental Industrial Infrastructure

AI served as the core backbone of this year’s show, with two exclusive dedicated zones: the Next Play AI Game Experience Area and Vision Future Frontier Tech Pavilion, showcasing more than 80 AI-powered game demos across the full industrial chain:

1. Content Production: AI tools auto-generate game prototypes, 3D assets, story scripts and art materials, drastically cutting development costs for indie studios; Qualcomm and Yimou Tech displayed generative computing terminal solutions.
2. Global User Acquisition: Marketing vendors including Pumpkinads and Light X launched AI-driven SaaS advertising platforms that auto-localize creative assets for regional markets, reducing overseas customer acquisition costs.
3. End-user Experience: Real-time AI NPCs, digital human guides and intelligent trial assistants were deployed onsite, turning AI from back-end tools into tangible player experience upgrades. Parallel AI special sessions at the CDEC Summit gathered industry elites to discuss long-term business model transformations powered by artificial intelligence.

Trend 2: Mature Overseas Expansion Ecosystem Boosts Chinese Content Globalization

Supported by industry data showing Chinese self-developed games’ overseas revenue jumped 30.22% in H1 2026, the B2B hall built a complete one-stop service network for global expansion:

1. Cross-border Payment: Epay, UseePay and other providers presented worldwide local payment gateways, automated revenue splitting and full-cycle compliance risk control, solving settlement pain points for games, short dramas and live streaming platforms.
2. Intelligent Marketing: Multiple AI advertising suites delivered end-to-end services including automated asset production, regional traffic forecasting and ROI optimization.
3. Publishing Partnerships: Overseas studios such as BSG (Escape from Tarkov) hosted their first offline China showcase, while domestic indie and mobile game developers connected with publishers across Southeast Asia, Europe, America and Japan & South Korea. The industry reached a consensus: overseas expansion is no longer isolated product export, but integrated collaboration covering content, payment, marketing and regulatory compliance.

Trend 3: Consumer Hardware Upgrades for Esports & Professional Visual Creation

Hardware pavilions emerged as major crowd magnets, covering controllers, display panels, audio equipment and XR devices, targeting professional esports creators and visual content producers:

1. MOJHON (MoJiang) gaming peripherals debuted the new white Wind 2 controller and full lineup of arcade fight sticks. The brand co-hosted on-site SNK S2 tournament matches with GTW pro players, collecting thousands of player feedback for product iteration. Coser meetups and stamp-draw lucky activities sustained peak foot traffic all four days.
2. Hisense showcased RGB-Mini LED flagship TVs U7S Pro+ and E8S Pro at Nikon, Sigma and SanDisk booths. Ultra-low reflectivity, professional color accuracy and 170Hz native refresh rates solved color distortion and dark detail loss under complex exhibition lighting, creating a seamless “shoot – screen review – post-production” workflow for cosplay and short video creators.
3. Century-old audio brand Philips launched retro youth-focused sound series, leveraging coser offline events to capture Gen Z consumers, as legacy hardware brands accelerate youth-oriented transformation.

Trend 4: B2C Visitor Behavior Shifts from Check-In Photography to In-Depth Game Experience

Mass audience halls displayed fundamental changes in visitor demands compared with previous editions:

1. Attendees prioritized hands-on game trials over photo-taking and merchandise collection; indie game zones and new demo booths maintained long waiting queues, collecting authentic feedback for domestic single-player and ACG titles.
2. Brand operation strategies were overhauled: publishers including Tencent, Nuverse and 360 allocated independent themed trial zones instead of relying solely on stage performances, significantly elevating content display weight.
3. Chinese cultural IP and domestic single-player games dominated visitor flow, with Black Myth: Wukong derivative displays, Resistance (anti-Japanese historical indie) and Three Kingdoms mobile games drawing massive fan groups. Overseas hits like Escape from Tarkov matched top-tier publisher booth popularity.
4. The ACG ecosystem expanded rapidly, featuring permanent iconic character cosers, live dance stages, IP pop-up stores and theme park-style scavenger hunts, merging gaming culture with youth trend consumption.

3. B2B Zone Structural Upgrade: From Booth Negotiation to Global Industrial Resource Hub

The W Hall business area underwent structural transformation, evolving from simple booth matching to an integrated platform for roadshows, government-industry docking and international exchange:

1. Specialized roadshow zones launched simultaneously: global publishing pitch area in W3, indie Game Connection in W4, creator contest pavilion in W5, efficiently matching developers with global distributors.
2. Regular government-industry liaison: industrial and tourism bureaus from Pudong, Xuhui, Hongkou and other Shanghai districts set up booths to promote game park incentive policies, with multiple local governments confirming larger participation plans for 2027.
3. Deep international media & institutional exchange: global gaming media including Korea’s THIS IS GAME and Europe’s Pocket Gamer stationed on-site, alongside foreign exhibition organizers negotiating cross-border event partnerships. Overseas investors and publishers sourced premium Chinese game projects.
4. Improved industrial matchmaking: Game Daily and other vertical media built dedicated platforms to connect small-scale developers and overseas service vendors, yielding far more signed memorandums of intent compared to 2025.

4. Event Conclusion & Industry Outlook

After four bustling days, ChinaJoy 2026 successfully closed its curtains. Over 23 years of development, the expo has evolved from a single gaming showcase into a comprehensive industrial window integrating AI tech, esports hardware, cross-border publishing, Chinese cultural IP and urban tourism. Three definitive industry signals emerged:

1. AI will act as a core new productivity driver, reshaping the full value chain of game creation and user operation.
2. Globalization of Chinese digital content will accelerate continuously, sustaining growth for supporting payment, marketing and compliance services.
3. Two-way industrial synergy will deepen: B2B cooperation becomes more specialized, while B2C player experience shifts toward high-quality trial content, pushing the industry away from crude traffic competition toward comprehensive competition in technology, storytelling and user experience.

The organizer stated it will optimize zone layout, summit agendas and supporting activities for ChinaJoy 2027 based on exhibitor and visitor feedback, further strengthening the expo’s position as a leading global exchange hub for digital entertainment, and supporting high-quality global expansion of China’s cultural and digital industries.