With an estimated revenue of over 210 billion yuan in 2017, China’s gaming industry has sped up its pace to go overseas, the latest report indicated on Wednesday.

The report, issued by China Culture & Entertainment Industry Association in Beijing, pointed out that the improved quality of Chinese games and especially mobile games has accelerated its pace to go overseas. It has gone beyond the Southeast Asian market to reach markets in West Asia and Africa and even some in the US and Europe.

“The gaming industry is becoming a key output for spreading Chinese culture around the world,” it added, predicting that more Chinese game companies would join the competition in the overseas market.

Meanwhile, China has yet to tap into its full potential in the gaming market, which will grow along with the market development and changing consumption habits of younger generations.

file photo

The estimated revenue of 2017 will see a 23.1 percent growth compared to that of 2016, added the report.

Specifically, a large proportion of the revenue will be made by online games, which take up some 92 percent of the total revenue. In the first three quarters of 2017, market revenue of online games was 151.3 billion yuan. The annual data is estimated to reach 201 billion yuan. Some 51 percent of the online games’ revenue came from mobile games.

In spite of the growing popularity of VR games, the newcomer in the industry remains at a low percentage rate, with an estimated annual revenue of 400 million yuan, up 28.2 percent year on year.