For much of the twenty-first century, Chinese gamers primarily played foreign titles because home-grown games were perceived as having lower production values. Even China’s gaming behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd began by publishing foreign games in China.
As the market developed to become the world’s largest, local developers invested more in generating higher-quality games. The tendency was accelerated by regulatory constraints on new games and import quotas, as well as the repatriation of engineers from top-tier studios such as Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc.
Gaming executives now hail “Genshin Impact” as a watershed moment in the industry, praising its production value and seamless cross-platform gameplay. Apple Inc even utilised the game to demonstrate the capabilities of its premium gadgets, such as the new iPad Air, which is outfitted with the company’s latest M1 CPU chip.
Another watershed moment was the release of “Naraka: Bladepoint” in 2021 by NetEase Inc, China’s second-largest games company. While most Chinese titles are free to play and make money from in-game purchases, “Naraka: Bladepoint” sold over 10 million copies despite its $20 price tag, demonstrating faith in its production value.
According to two sources, the game piqued the interest of both Microsoft and Sony. According to one of them, NetEase prioritised Microsoft, who made the game a Game Pass exclusive in June.
