Top Grossing Games in China: Mobile, PC and Console Rankings
According to China’s Gaming Industry Report China generated CNY 350.79 billion in domestic gaming revenue in 2025, making it one of the world’s largest and most commercially important games markets. Mobile games continue to dominate, but PC games, mini games and premium console titles are becoming increasingly important sources of growth.
This article combines current rankings, annual revenue estimates and wider industry data to provide a more complete picture of which games, publishers and platforms are generating the most revenue in China.
What Are the Key Findings?
- China’s domestic games market generated CNY 350.79 billion in 2025, representing year-on-year growth of 7.68%.
- Mobile games accounted for 73.29% of the market, while client-based PC game revenue increased by 14.97%.
- Third-party estimates place Honor of Kings’ 2025 China gross billings at approximately CNY 35.59 billion.
- China’s ten highest-grossing mobile games generated estimated combined billings of approximately CNY 112.81 billion.
- Tencent operated eight of the estimated ten highest-grossing mobile games.
- Mini-program game revenue reached CNY 53.54 billion, following another year of rapid growth.
- Console revenue increased by 86.33%, although the segment remains small compared with mobile and PC gaming.
How Big Is China’s Gaming Industry?
According to the China Game Industry Report 2025, China’s domestic games market reached record highs for both revenue and users during 2025.
| Market indicator | 2025 result | Annual change |
| Total domestic games revenue | CNY 350.79 billion | +7.68% |
| Total game users | 683 million | +1.35% |
| Mobile game revenue | CNY 257.08 billion | +7.92% |
| Client-based PC game revenue | CNY 78.16 billion | +14.97% |
| Web game revenue | CNY 4.33 billion | -6.74% |
| Console market revenue | CNY 8.36 billion | +86.33% |
| Domestically developed game revenue in China | CNY 291.10 billion | +11.64% |
| Overseas revenue from Chinese-developed games | USD 20.46 billion | +10.23% |
Dividing total domestic revenue by the reported number of game users gives an average of approximately CNY 514 per user during 2025. This should not be interpreted as paying-user ARPU because China’s 683 million users include both paying and non-paying players.
Domestically developed games generated approximately 83% of China’s total market revenue. This demonstrates the strength of local publishers and the difficulty overseas developers can face when competing against established Chinese games with strong local IP, distribution and live-operations capabilities.
Mobile remained dominant, but it was not the fastest-growing. Client-based PC game revenue expanded by 14.97%, almost twice the 7.92% growth recorded by mobile games. Console revenue grew even faster, although partly because it started from a much smaller base and the official figure includes both gaming hardware and software.
Why Is There No Single Top-Grossing Games Chart for China?
Different sources measure different types of revenue.
Apple’s grossing chart measures the relative performance of games on the Mainland China iPhone App Store. It excludes Android stores, WeChat Mini Games, Douyin Mini Games, PC clients, console sales and payments made outside Apple’s ecosystem.
China’s Android market is divided between stores operated by Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Tencent and other companies. There is no public nationwide Android revenue chart that covers every store.
The PC market is similarly fragmented. Steam provides a China regional revenue ranking, but major games including League of Legends, VALORANT, CrossFire and some versions of Delta Force primarily generate revenue through proprietary clients.
Revenue terminology also matters. Chinese-language reports frequently use the term 流水, meaning gross billings or player spending. This is not necessarily the same as the revenue recognised by a publisher after platform fees, taxes, channel payments and revenue-sharing arrangements.
For these reasons, mobile, PC and console data should be presented separately, with the date, platform and methodology clearly identified.
Which Mobile Games Grossed the Most in China in 2025?
The following ranking uses third-party estimates reported by 17173. The figures are estimates of annual gross billings rather than audited publisher revenue, and the original source does not provide a complete explanation of its channel coverage.
| Rank | Game | Publisher or operator | Estimated 2025 gross billings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honor of Kings (王者荣耀) | Tencent | CNY 35.59 billion |
| 2 | Game for Peace (和平精英) | Tencent | CNY 17.33 billion |
| 3 | Dungeon & Fighter Mobile (地下城与勇士：起源) | Tencent | CNY 10.43 billion |
| 4 | Whiteout Survival (无尽冬日) | Century Games | CNY 9.51 billion |
| 5 | Delta Force (三角洲行动) | Tencent | CNY 9.26 billion |
| 6 | Battle of Golden Spatula (金铲铲之战) | Tencent | CNY 7.83 billion |
| 7 | Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile (梦幻西游手游) | NetEase | CNY 7.73 billion |
| 8 | CrossFire Mobile (穿越火线：枪战王者) | Tencent | CNY 6.42 billion |
| 9 | Naruto Mobile (火影忍者手游) | Tencent | CNY 4.50 billion |
| 10 | League of Legends: Wild Rift (英雄联盟手游) | Tencent | CNY 4.22 billion |
These ten games generated estimated combined gross billings of approximately CNY 112.81 billion. Honor of Kings alone grossed more than twice as much as second-placed Game for Peace, while eight of the ten games were operated by Tencent.
The table also demonstrates the continuing importance of long-running games. Honor of Kings launched in China in 2015, Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile in 2015, CrossFire Mobile in 2015 and Naruto Mobile in 2016. Their continued presence shows that successful live-service games can remain commercially valuable for a decade when supported by regular content, competitive ecosystems and established social communities.
However, different analytics platforms produce different revenue figures. Sensor Tower separately estimated that Honor of Kings generated more than US$2 billion in global mobile revenue during 2025, excluding China’s third-party Android stores. The narrower platform coverage helps explain why this figure is lower than estimates that attempt to include more Chinese payment and distribution channels.
What Are the Top-Grossing Games on the Apple App Store China?
The following ranking records the Games category on the Mainland China iPhone App Store on 7 September 2026.
| Rank | Chinese title | English or commonly used title |
| 1 | 王者荣耀 | Honor of Kings |
| 2 | 三角洲行动 | Delta Force |
| 3 | 和平精英 | Game for Peace |
| 4 | 无畏契约：源能行动 | VALORANT Mobile |
| 5 | 金铲铲之战 | Battle of Golden Spatula |
| 6 | 无尽冬日 | Whiteout Survival |
| 7 | 开心消消乐 | Anipop |
| 8 | 梦幻西游 | Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile |
| 9 | 部落冲突 | Clash of Clans |
| 10 | 明日方舟 | Arknights |
| 11 | 捕鱼大作战 | Fishing Battle |
| 12 | 英雄联盟手游 | League of Legends: Wild Rift |
| 13 | 光·遇 | Sky: Children of the Light |
| 14 | FC足球世界-Next | EA SPORTS FC Mobile China |
| 15 | 向僵尸开炮 | BangBang Survivor |
| 16 | 时尚百货城 | Fashion Department Store |
| 17 | 火影忍者 | Naruto Mobile |
| 18 | 蛋仔派对 | Eggy Party |
| 19 | 腾讯欢乐斗地主 | Tencent Happy Dou Dizhu |
| 20 | 超自然行动组 | Supernatural Action Team |
| 21 | 指尖四川麻将 | Fingertip Sichuan Mahjong |
| 22 | 捕鱼大咖 | Fishing Tycoon |
| 23 | 永远的蔚蓝星球 | Forever Blue Planet |
| 24 | 三国志·战略版 | Three Kingdoms Tactics |
| 25 | 我的花园世界 | My Garden World |
Honor of Kings remained the clearest market leader, ranking first in both the live September chart and the full-year 2025 estimates. Delta Force, Game for Peace and VALORANT Mobile occupied three of the first four positions, demonstrating the increasing commercial strength of shooting games.
The rankings can change substantially during live events. Sensor Tower’s July 2026 monthly China App Store ranking placed Honor of Kings first, followed by Game for Peace, Delta Force, Whiteout Survival and Eggy Party. By 7 September, Eggy Party had fallen to eighteenth in the daily chart, while Clash of Clans and Arknights had entered the top ten.
A daily App Store position should therefore be treated as a current market signal rather than proof of a game’s monthly or annual revenue.
Do the Highest-Grossing Games Also Have the Most Players?
High user numbers can support revenue, but audience size and grossing position are not the same measurement.
The September 2026 AppInChina Mobile Game Index estimates monthly active users across iOS and Android. Comparing it with the iPhone grossing chart reveals important differences:
| Game | China iPhone grossing rank | Estimated MAU | MAU rank |
| Honor of Kings | 1 | 104.2 million | 1 |
| Delta Force | 2 | 17.3 million | 7 |
| Game for Peace | 3 | 57.4 million | 2 |
| VALORANT Mobile | 4 | 7.2 million | 20 |
| Battle of Golden Spatula | 5 | 11.3 million | 10 |
| Whiteout Survival | 6 | Outside the MAU top 20 | Outside top 20 |
| Anipop | 7 | 42.4 million | 3 |
Honor of Kings combines exceptional reach with strong monetisation. Game for Peace and Anipop also have very large audiences, but Delta Force and VALORANT Mobile rank considerably higher by revenue than by user numbers.
Whiteout Survival provides an even clearer example. Despite sitting outside AppInChina’s 20 largest mobile games by MAU, it was sixth in the iPhone grossing chart. This suggests a smaller but comparatively valuable spending audience.
This distinction matters for developers. A high-grossing strategy or role-playing game may generate more revenue than a mass-market casual game with several times as many active users.
Which Genres Generate the Most Gaming Revenue in China?
Among China’s 100 highest-grossing mobile games in 2025, three categories generated more than half of total revenue:
| Genre | Share of top-100 mobile game revenue |
| MOBA | 19.45% |
| Shooting | 18.29% |
| Role-playing games | 15.10% |
| Combined share | 52.84% |
The amount of revenue generated by shooting games is particularly notable because shooters represented only 7% of the titles in the top 100 but produced 18.29% of revenue. This indicates that successful shooting games generated substantially more revenue per title than many other categories.
Delta Force was the most important new example. Its estimated 2025 gross billings reached CNY 9.26 billion, while Sensor Tower reported that its annual revenue increased approximately 29-fold. By September 2026, it had climbed to second place on the China iPhone grossing chart.
By contrast, role-playing games accounted for 20% of the top 100 titles but only 15.10% of revenue. China continues to support many RPG products, but revenue is divided across a comparatively larger number of competing games.
Which Publishers Dominate China’s Gaming Market?
Tencent remains the dominant publisher. It operated eight of the ten games in the estimated 2025 annual mobile ranking and ten of the top 20 games in Sensor Tower’s July 2026 China App Store chart.
Tencent reported CNY 164.2 billion in domestic games revenue during 2025, representing annual growth of 18%. The company attributed its performance to both newer products such as Delta Force and established titles including Honor of Kings, Game for Peace and VALORANT.
NetEase retains a strong position through games including Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile, Eggy Party, Identity V and Sky: Children of the Light. Its strength extends beyond mobile to PC games and the local operation of major international titles.
Century Games has emerged as another major competitor through Whiteout Survival. Sensor Tower estimated that the game generated US$2.1 billion globally during 2025. Its China iOS revenue reportedly reached US$480 million, increasing by 128% year on year. This shows how a Chinese game originally successful overseas can be reintroduced and scaled in its domestic market.
Chinese publishers are also commercially important outside China. Chinese-developed games generated US$20.46 billion overseas in 2025, increasing by 10.23%. Mobile games contributed US$18.48 billion of this total.
The United States, Japan and South Korea collectively generated 57.81% of overseas revenue from Chinese mobile games. Strategy games, including SLG titles, represented 49.96% of revenue among the top 100 Chinese-developed mobile games overseas.
Which PC Games Are Grossing the Most in China?
Client-based PC games generated CNY 78.16 billion in China during 2025, increasing by 14.97%. The growth of PC games is being supported by competitive shooters, established esports titles, premium games and cross-platform releases.
Steam’s official China regional chart ranks products according to weekly revenue. For the completed week from 25 August to 1 September 2026, the leading games were:
| Rank | Game |
| 1 | How to Fish |
| 2 | Apex Legends |
| 3 | NBA 2K27 |
| 4 | Forza Horizon 5 |
| 5 | PUBG: Battlegrounds |
| 6 | Phantom Blade Zero |
| 7 | Forza Horizon 6 |
| 8 | Counter-Strike 2 |
| 9 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
| 10 | Onimusha: Way of the Sword |
View the official Steam China weekly top sellers.
Weekly revenue charts can be affected by new releases, discounts and preorders. Longer-term chart consistency provides a better indication of established demand. During 2025, Counter-Strike 2 and PUBG appeared in Steam China’s top 20 during all 52 weeks. Apex Legends and Delta Force appeared during 49 weeks, Naraka: Bladepoint during 36 and Black Myth: Wukong during 28.
Steam nevertheless represents only part of China’s PC market. A 2025 Lenovo usage ranking placed VALORANT, Delta Force, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2 and Naraka: Bladepoint in the first five positions. This broader ranking helps capture major titles distributed through proprietary Chinese clients, although it measures launches and usage rather than revenue.
How Important Are Console Games in China?
China’s console market generated CNY 8.36 billion in 2025, increasing by 86.33%. This is equivalent to approximately 2.4% of the headline domestic market total.
The growth rate is significant, but the official figure includes both console hardware and game software. It therefore cannot be compared directly with game-only mobile and PC revenue.
There is currently no comprehensive public ranking of individual console games by Mainland China revenue. PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo do not publish China-specific annual revenue tables, while imported and grey-market hardware makes the installed base more difficult to measure.
Black Myth: Wukong remains the most important recent premium PC and console benchmark. By January 2025, the game had reportedly sold almost 25 million copies and generated approximately USD 1.1 billion worldwide. Niko Partners estimated that around 70% of its sales came from China.
Its success demonstrated that Chinese consumers can support a large premium game sold through upfront purchases, rather than only free-to-play games monetised through in-game transactions. However, it should be treated as a cross-platform case study rather than evidence of a broader console revenue ranking.
Why Are Mini Games Becoming a Major Part of China’s Games Market?
Mini-program games were one of the fastest-growing segments of China’s gaming industry in 2025. Revenue reached CNY 53.54 billion, increasing by 38.56%.
This means the mini-game segment was equivalent in scale to approximately one-fifth of the conventional mobile game market. Mini-game revenue is already larger than China’s entire web and console game markets combined, although these categories should not be added together without checking for overlapping definitions.
A separate industry report estimated that in-app purchases generated CNY 36.46 billion, or 68.11% of mini-game revenue, while advertising generated CNY 17.07 billion, or 31.89%.
WeChat remained the largest mini-game platform, with an estimated 571 million monthly active users in August 2025, compared with 171 million for Douyin Mini Games. More than 51,000 mini games used paid advertising during 2025, an increase of 54%, while a further 9,000 titles were reportedly under development.
Mini games initially gained popularity through casual and advertising-supported formats. However, more complex role-playing, strategy and simulation games are increasingly using mini-program distribution. This is turning WeChat and Douyin into important monetisation platforms rather than simply channels for lightweight casual games.
How Important Are Esports and Game Livestreaming in China?
Games classified as esports products generated CNY 170.05 billion in sales during 2025, increasing by 18.96%. This is a category within the wider games market and should not be added to total game revenue.
Separately, China’s esports service industry, including livestreaming, competitions, clubs and related services, generated CNY 29.33 billion, increasing by 6.40%. Livestreaming accounted for 80.81% of that revenue.
China had more than 495 million esports users and hosted 142 provincial-level or higher professional esports events during 2025. Shooting games represented 28.3% of major esports products, while MOBA and sports games each represented 14.1%. Mobile games accounted for 58.6% of major esports products.
This ecosystem helps explain the durability of games such as Honor of Kings, Game for Peace, League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2. Esports competitions, livestreaming and creator content can maintain engagement between major updates while providing additional marketing and sponsorship opportunities.
Is China Becoming More Open to New and Foreign Games?
China issued 1,771 new game publishing approvals during 2025, an increase of 25% from 2024 and the highest annual total for several years.
Of these approvals:
- 1,676 were for domestic games.
- 95 were for imported games.
- 1,729 included a mobile version.
- 159 included a PC client version.
- Eight included a console version.
- 136 covered more than one platform.
The number of approvals and their regular monthly release indicate that the regulatory process has become more predictable. However, imported titles represented only around 5.4% of approvals, showing that foreign developers still face a more selective route into the market.
A game must generally obtain a Game Publishing ISBN before it can legally be commercially operated in Mainland China. International companies cannot apply independently and must work through an eligible Chinese publishing and operating structure.
Developers can read The Complete Guide to China’s Game Publishing ISBN or search AppInChina’s free China Game License Database to review previously approved domestic and imported games.
What Do the Rankings Reveal About China’s Gaming Market?
Long-term operation remains essential: Several of China’s highest-grossing games have been operating for close to or more than a decade. Regular updates, seasonal events, social features and esports ecosystems help established titles maintain player engagement and revenue.
Shooting games are becoming more commercially important: Game for Peace, Delta Force and VALORANT Mobile occupied three of the top four positions in the September 2026 iPhone grossing chart. Shooters also generate a disproportionately high share of mobile and esports revenue.
A larger audience does not always produce more revenue: Anipop had more than 42 million estimated monthly users but ranked seventh by iPhone revenue, while Whiteout Survival ranked sixth without entering the top 20 by MAU. Payer conversion, purchase frequency and monetisation design can be as important as audience size.
Cross-platform distribution is increasingly valuable: Games such as Delta Force, Genshin Impact, League of Legends and Black Myth: Wukong have built connected audiences across mobile, PC and console, allowing publishers to reach different player groups and extend each title’s lifecycle.
China’s gaming market is becoming more diverse: Mobile remains the largest segment, but PC games, mini games and console products all grew faster than the overall market in 2025. Future growth is therefore likely to come from a broader combination of platforms and monetisation models.
What Will Shape China’s Gaming Market in 2026?
Evergreen games are likely to retain much of the market’s revenue. Honor of Kings, Game for Peace and Fantasy Westward Journey have shown that established games can continue growing through live events, seasonal content, IP collaborations and social competition.
Shooters will remain one of the most competitive categories. Delta Force and VALORANT Mobile have already challenged older titles, while Game for Peace and CrossFire retain large existing communities.
Mini games are another important growth area. Industry projections suggest the segment could exceed CNY 70 billion during 2026 as publishers introduce more complex games and increase spending on user acquisition.
PC and premium games are also likely to receive greater investment following the success of Black Myth: Wukong and continued growth in client-based PC revenue. Niko Partners forecasts that China’s total games market will reach approximately US$53.9 billion in 2026 and US$59.8 billion by 2030, although its methodology differs from the official Chinese industry report. Niko Partners
How Was This Ranking Compiled?
The annual mobile revenue table uses third-party gross-billings estimates for the 2025 calendar year. These estimates should not be interpreted as audited publisher revenue.
The Apple App Store China table is a daily grossing-chart snapshot captured on 7 September 2026. It shows relative rank but not exact revenue and excludes Android and other platforms.
Monthly mobile comparisons use Sensor Tower estimates for the China App Store. These exclude revenue from China’s third-party Android stores.
PC rankings use Steam’s China regional revenue chart. Steam data does not cover proprietary PC clients or all payments made through Chinese publishers.
The console section uses overall market data and individual case studies because no reliable Mainland China title-level revenue ranking is publicly available.
The MAU comparison uses the September 2026 AppInChina Mobile Game Index, which estimates active users across both iOS and Android.
How Can AppInChina Help?
China offers access to hundreds of millions of players, but international developers must address licensing, localisation, distribution and compliance before they can monetise successfully.
AppInChina can help international game developers by:
- Providing a free initial compliance assessment to identify the licences, filings and technical changes required for China.
- Supporting the Game Publishing ISBN application through qualified Chinese publishing partners.
- Localising game content, metadata, privacy documentation and user flows for Mainland China.
- Publishing mobile games across the Apple App Store China and leading Chinese Android game stores.
- Supporting China-compatible hosting, real-name verification, anti-addiction systems, payments and ongoing compliance.
- Providing market data and launch recommendations covering game stores, competing titles, user acquisition and monetisation.
Contact us to arrange a free consultation and discuss how to publish and operate your game in China.