(Yicai Global) Sept. 28 -- China has become a major gaming consumer and producer in the ten years since 2011. The country’s gaming market has sextupled in that decade and the number of gaming firms has jumped by around 70-fold.

China’s gaming market is likely to log revenue of USD50.2 billion this year, just behind the US with USD50.5 billion, according to a forecast released in May by Dutch market research firm Newzoo. The world’s gaming market is likely to be worth USD203.1 billion.

China has over 390,000 game developers, around 70-times more than a decade ago, according to corporate data provider Tianyancha.

China is already the world’s largest mobile game market. Chinese gaming developers, led by Tencent Holdings and NetEase, take up around 20 percent of the global market excluding China, and the figure is still rising, according to data science analyst data.ai.

Tencent and NetEase were the biggest grossing game publishers on Apple’s App Store and Google Play last year, according to Data.ai. TikTok operator ByteDance ranked seventh, while miHoYo and 37 Interactive Entertainment also made the top 30.

Chinese game developers are seizing a growing share of overseas markets, indicating that they are competitive, said Liu Wuhua, chief executive director of Yangfanchuhai and former editor-in-chief of Sina Games Channel.

Mobile games will take up a greater share of the world’s gaming market as mobile games will be the first games that young people play, Mao Yanhui, head of Moonton Games’ e-sports business and overseas branch, told Yicai Global. This is a big trend in the gaming market and it is where Chinese game makers’ strengths lie.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor