Five Misconceptions about the Chinese Games Market

Most of what you think you know about the Chinese games market is probably wrong or outdated. Apptutti's Daniel Camilo on the myths around console sales, PC gaming, rampant piracy, and more.

[BlackIceJoe]

I'd like to see some Chinese companies make games over what Tencent does which is buy shares of different companies.

I know that talent exists in China to create the next big IP and I want to see something that is uniquely Chinese, that makes you go wow, I need to own that game.

Lots of my favorite game developers are Japanese and I'd like to say the same for games from China.

So hopefully soon Chinese games will make one's way west, because I'm looking forward to trying something new.

[lptmg]

Take a look at the upcoming Monkey King: Hero is Back. That game has a lot of potential.

Another really good Chinese game is ICEY, which is Nier Automata levels of good in terms of its storytelling.

[Joshua13]

Agreed for Icey. And as for Monkey King? It definitely has potential but we have to see if that potential is greatly executed, because a lot of the early impressions recently were pretty mixed. Some saying that it's decent, others saying that, while not terrible, it'll probably end up as another average licensed game, among far better alternatives. We just have to wait and see. Besides, it could probably be because the demo was kinda weak, since it didn't featured any bosses, so maybe they're saving the best for last. Honestly, I'm more interested in the game's dlcs like the one where you fight against bosses Asura-Wrath-style.

[Rangerman1208]

I hope you're right about Monkey King, because I had the game on my watch list since it was announced. I just hope it fulfills its promise.

Also, you're probably the first person I have met this year who enjoys Gene Rain (for the wrong reasons of course haha). My main issues with Gene Rain is how erratic it can be (from Ai to aiming), the poorly told story, and the final boss was terrible. I have to admit that I had some dumb fun (by accident) but the best compliment I can give it is that it's probably the best bad Chinese game on the PS4 when compared to the likes of Ranch Planet, Weeping Doll, and Ace Banana. Too bad the game sold poorly though, to the point the PC and Vr ports were canned (they shouldn'thave priced it for $25). I even emailed Deeli Network about it but I haven't gotten a response. I guess we'll never get to see Gene Rain 2. Gene Rain is not a godawful game, but it's definitely not what I would consider the best of what China has to offer (and you know it's bad when the game isn't even being sold in asian stores).

Plus, if you want a really "good so bad it's good" game, EDF has you covered. Heck, 4.1 is $5 less than Gene Rain as of now.

[PrensGaia]

"I actually enjoyed Gene Rain."
Not according to your review last year lol xD

Not that I care though. I enjoyed reading that review, as well your other reviews. My main gripe with Gene Rain was the price. If it was $10 or less, it would have been fine. My guess why it's so overpriced is probably because they really didn't have many funds for their other ports.

I definitely agree Gene Rain can be so bad that it can be somewhat fun at times (Critikal's stream on it comes to mind), but I agree with Rangerman that it's definitely not a good example of chinese gaming development. Even Immortal Legacy is a better example. In fact, just recently, they already offered the Immortal Legacy on a sale, and it's gaining a bit of popularity on r/PSVR, which gives me hope that a sequel is more probable than ever.

Anyway, I really hope chinese video game development improves over the years instead of being filled with mobile knock offs, "so bad it's good" games and glorified tech demos ("ons of style, little substance"). They really have a lot of talent and I feel like their wasting them too much on the presentation or even the artwork, which usually looks better than the game itself (The Walker and Hidden Dragon Legend falls under that category sadly). I hope the best for the market but until then, let's hope Monkey King ends up actually good (and hopefully you'll review it). Or atleast when Lost Soul Aside gets released.

[Jammer210]

I'm with you there on Monkey King. I think it looks good, albeit the movement looks somewhat slow.

Although I just want to say that, in regards to your and Rangerman's comment on Gene Rain, I really hated that game lol. The gunplay really just felt off with only one weapon feeling somewhat decent. The abilities were almost never useful, enemies were damage sponges even on easy difficulty, the bosses were terrible (especially the final boss with its weak payoff and the hit collision) and there was barely any reason to keep playing other to other experience the terrible voice acting again or its horde mode, which was only fun if not for other reason to play as Ling again. I have to admit that I have played worse games (looking a you Quiet Man and Life of Black Tiger) but if someone were to tell me that Gene rain is one of the best representatives for Chinese gaming, I'd say "what are you smoking, give me some and get out" lol

[BeginsNightime]

I agree on Icey but not too much on Monkey King. Just because Sony isn involved, doesn't it will be automatically good (Drawn to Death, Hardware Rivals, Tomorrow Children, etc.) Not to mention Oasis Games' track record isn't anything to write home about, just like most other chinese publishers like Winking Entertainment. Who knows though, maybe it could be good. Though if for any reason it it does receive a middling reception from both critics and gamers, then what would happen next? Will everyone forget it as if it never happened? Or will Oasis Games and Sony try their best to improve the game? Really annoys me that I have to wait until 17 just to see what will happen next. Also, sorry if this post is too long. Looks like others got me beat.

[Rangerman1208]

Agreed. The issue with a lot of chinese games on the PS4 is that they really needed a slight boost in the budget. Without that, the results usually varies from average games to mediocre ones, like Hidden Dragon, Gene Rain, The Walker, Soul Dimension, Warbot, the recently released Ling, etc. Even the decent ones (that I liked) such as Immortal Legacy (the first being published by Sony) and Ancient Amuletor are not without their drawbacks. And I think the biggest issue is that they usually emphasize too much on style than on substance.

As someone who's interested in the chinese game market, this is why I even organized my own list of released (ranked from worst to best) and upcoming chinese games because despite my whining, I'm really hoping the best for the developers, even if their first outing on the console market wasn't anything to write home about. What worries me is if they'll never make another game again. Look at what happened with Ace Banana's devs, The Walker's devs or even Gene Rain's devs. They were either not heard again since their first release, not much has been heard about their next project or are probably gone such as removing their social media accounts or selling their website (The walker being the biggest example).

Honestly, Icey is in my opinion still the best chinese game we got on the console as of now. Great art-style, great gameplay, great story and great soundtrack. Monkey King, like what Iptmg said, looks promising and it will be released this month. I just hope it will be at the very least decent.

[lptmg]

I'm gonna say. I actually enjoyed Gene Rain but for the wrong reasons, as a "so godawful it's good kind of game"

as for Monkey King, we can't say much because of embargo policies but it's being good so far. It's a nice step forward in terms of overall quality.

[rainslacker]

What I'd like is more information when the games actually release. I've seen a lot that have peaked my interested in recent years, and I'm glad to see Chinese, or even Korean devs getting some recognition that they never got...mostly because of the misconceptions that this article posits.

But too often, a game I may be interested in gets some early trailers, maybe one or two nods along the line, then releases with almost no, or absolutely no fan fare. Then it passes, and I forget about it until people start mentioning them in articles such as these.

That's not exclusive to just Chinese games of course, but with this new interest blooming from the region, I think there needs to be a bit more follow through on the discovery side for the consumer.

I'm personally just not at a point where I want to constantly keep track of that stuff on my own anymore.

[Rangerman1208]

@rainslacker I can see why. The issue with a lot of these chinese games is that, every time they get announced (expect chinese to be on the headline), people will be like "looks good :)" and then a week or month after, it just goes into obscurity. Sure, you might see a new comment, review and/or 1-2 videos, but overall you'll have a better chance someone recommending a bad japanese/western game than a mediocre/average chinese game. Heck, last week we got Ling, and there's barely any review on the game even with the PS4 release. Oh, and who could forget Sword and Fairy 6 or The Walker or Gene Rain or Mars Alive? Really feels like people are only praising these games solely because it's chinese. That, or these games usually suffer lack of substance and because of that, they end up forgotten, because if the only thing your chinese game has it going for is that it's a functional game with pretty visuals, then don't expect it to be brought up that much.

Oh, and by the way, what were the chinese games that you actually found to be interesting?

[BeginsNightime]

Same here. The problem though is that the majority are mostly style over substance. Even if some of those games are liked, they aren't as talked about compared to even the most niche western, European or japanese games. I'm still gonna give them a chance to redeem themselves but I won't be holding my breath anymore, especially when the PS5 is already around the corner, which could make things more troublesome for the devs now that they have to spend more money on developing games on a more powerful (and expensive) system.

[VTKC]

They have heavy censorship. No depictions of a human skeleton is allowed.

[rdgneoz3]

And I'm guessing no Kingdom Hearts 3 in China do to Winnie the Emperor....

[VTKC]

haha I forgot Winnie the Pooh was banned! LOL!!

[Rangerman1208]

And speaking of Winnie, let's not forget that it was because of China that a loved taiwanese indie horror game called Devotion was forever removed from Steam due to an Easter egg that references Winnie the Pooh.

[rlow1]

I just know that when I've been in Hong Kong....heck a lot of overseas countries on that side of the world. Their is a heavy gray and black market.....I remember seeing games and movies ripped sometimes before they even had come out in Western countries....Crazy stuff.

[KillBill]

"3. "Everything in China is pirated"
Not really, no. Not so much anymore, anyway."

This one is absolutely wrong. China has been for a long time and still is a very heavy pirating country. To the point where many consumers shop in online stores and even retail stores and don't care to even know if the stuff they purchase is legit or not. Foreign copyright is really a joke in China and games, videos, and other such items are simply notoriously pirated versions than not.

And yes... even the mobile market is flooded with pirated sites that pass themselves off as real marketers. And they don't just sell in China. Go to any Asian country and the people selling you pirated goods are likely attached in some manner to a Chinese source.

[Giraiga13]

This was certainly an interesting read. Hoping that we'll be getting better chinese games in the future on the PS4. Monkey King looks interesting though I'm more excited for Lost Soul Aside.

[SoulTome66]

Misconceptions or not, I just want more good asian games on consoles. So far, the most of the chinese games we got were either okay or mediocre, with the biggest issue is that a lot of these are mostly forgotten. We need chinese games like Icey and Lost Soul that look and play good enough to be remembered by the gaming community, because there is great talent from chinese developers, even from bad chinese games. Plus, I'll take any bad original chinese games over mediocre knockoffs with re-used assets anyday.