We can finally participate! ChinaJoy, Largest Game Exhibition in Asia

Tokyo Game Show, Taipei Game Show, and ChinaJoy in Shanghai, China. Both are Asia’s largest game exhibitions, attracting 200,000 to 300,000 participants before the corona crisis.
In particular, ChinaJoy, which will be held from tomorrow, seemed to be ahead of the rest in terms of its vast exhibition area, number of exhibitors, and number of visitors, but until last year, participation from overseas had dropped sharply due to the corona crisis. I was.
Since the Chinese government changed its zero-corona policy this year, it has finally become possible for overseas participants to participate.

Note: All photos are from ChinaJoy2019

Participation from Japan requires a visa, but it is somehow possible to participate, so I think we can expect some participation from the Japanese game industry at this year’s ChinaJoy.
Note: As of July 27, 2023, it is not possible to travel from Japan to China with only a passport, and a visa is required.

In this article, I will tell you what the author, who has been participating in ChinaJoy since 2014 and has been observing the Chinese game market, is paying attention to at this year’s ChinaJoy.

1. Business confidence in the game market

Even before the corona crisis, China had been in a bad situation for both smartphone games and PC games due to government restrictions on the Internet.
As demand for games increased worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, we heard from Chinese game industry people that the domestic game market was extremely tough.
As far as I have heard from business partners and business partners in the Chinese game industry, I don’t think this business sentiment was wrong, but I don’t really know what the current situation is.
ChinaJoy gathers various game operators from all over China, so I would like to confirm the current market sentiment.

2. Platform status

We would also like to confirm the status of smartphones, consoles such as PlayStation and Switch, and the PC game Steam in China.
Steam, in particular, is officially blocked by a firewall in China, but the number of users is huge, and even Japanese game publishers cannot ignore it. Steam is probably an important platform for Chinese game operators.
It is unclear whether ChinaJoy will be able to see Steam games on display, but I would like to confirm with the relevant parties how much the Chinese game industry is paying attention to Steam.

3. Participants from overseas

ChinaJoy used to have many participants from overseas. It was also an exhibition where game people from all over the world, such as Japan, America, Europe, and the Middle East, gathered.
However, as mentioned above, business in the Chinese game market is gradually becoming more difficult due to government restrictions on the Internet, and some game publishers have already given up on aggressive expansion into China even before the coronavirus pandemic.

Under such circumstances, we are very interested to see how many people from overseas will participate in ChinaJoy, which will be held for the first time in a long time.

4. Exhibition status of GAFAM

Finally, about GAGAM’s exhibition. Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft used to have big booths in ChinaJoy’s BtoB area. The services of these American companies are generally blocked in China, but on the other hand, BtoB services are not completely blocked at least, and there are many exhibits that mainly promote services such as servers and advertisements. I was.

Now, with the wind of layoffs blowing among US IT companies after the corona crisis, will ChinaJoy have a large-scale GAFAM booth like before?

China is a vast country, has its own Chinese philosophy, and is undergoing rapid economic changes.
Among them, ChinaJoy, where people involved in the game industry gather, is very useful for gaining a comprehensive perspective.

The hurdles to participating in this year’s ChinaJoy were not low, such as the need to obtain a visa, but I think it’s very meaningful to go to check on the situation after a long absence.

Starting tomorrow at ChinaJoy, I would like to take a closer look at the state of the Chinese game market for the first time in a while.