Strong growth predicted for Chinese games industry

A Niko Partners report forecasts that domestic Chinese mobile games revenue could double from $5.5bn in 2015 (excluding export revenue of $1.3 billion) to $11.1 billion by 2019. Among the analysts' top predictions for the digital games industry in China for 2016; overall revenues for the entire market are expected to be $26bn; investment in internet cafes, where many Chinese play PC games, will continue across all cities; Tencent's market dominance will likely continue although competition is expected from NetEase and other more focused game companies; consolidation of small and mid-sized game companies in all segments, and especially among mobile game developers, as the market is overcrowded; and while consoles will be flat, domestic, TV-based gaming boxes will see modest growth.

2016 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the games market in China, with revenue from PC online, mobile and console games rising to more than $26 billion. Here are Niko Partners' top 14 predictions for digital games in China for 2016.