Video gaming in China

Video games in China is a massive industry and pastime that includes the production, sale, import/export, and playing of video games. China is the largest and highest grossing (revenues) video game market in the world, since 2015. The landscape of the topic is strongly shaped by China's average income level, rampant software piracy, and governmental measures to control game content and playing times. In 2011, China's PC game sector was worth $6 billion, the largest in the world.Arcade games are also a thriving industry in China. Console games were banned from the country in 2000, but the ban was lifted in July 2015.

The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau have unique legal and cultural environments, thus the information below does not apply in these two regions.

China has domestically produced a number of games, including the Genesis of the Century trilogy (The World of Legend, The Age, and Magical Land), Westward Journey, The Incorruptible Warrior, and Crazy Mouse. There are a large number of domestically-made massively multiplayer online role-playing game MMORPGs in China, although many generally remain unheard of outside of the country.

Although China's growing economy has boosted the economic prospects of most Chinese in the last couple of decades, the cost of a personal computer, video game console, or Internet connection remains prohibitive for many Chinese. The popularity of internet cafes has increased in the country as a result. Rather than purchasing their own hardware and software, users are simply charged a small fee (often by the hour) to use an Internet cafe computer which often comes preloaded with a selection of games. Chinese internet cafes often impose age limits to protect minors from what may be adult content.

...
Wikipedia