Industry Report
China Esports Market
China is the scale case. 495 million users. Tens of billions of yuan. The H1 2026 revenue print is not a global USD TAM and not a reason to double the year.
Figures are named-publisher estimates. Confirm the original table before using them in paid work. Aglima did not produce these measurements.
01
Market snapshot
Revenue
13.115CNY bn
Industry revenue
2026 H1
China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry Report
User base
495million users
User base
2026 H1
China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry Report
Revenue
29.331CNY bn
Industry revenue
2025
People’s Daily
495 million in 2025 (People’s Daily) and end-June 2026 (China Report). Concentration, not proven growth.
People’s Daily
495 million users
2025 · User base · China esports users, 2025. Same 495 million level as the H1 2026 China Report figure.
China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry Report
495 million users
2026 H1 · User base · Esports users in China at end-June 2026.
| Source | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| People’s Daily | 495 million users | 2025 |
| China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry Report | 495 million users | 2026 H1 |
02
Demand drivers
- Publisher and event concentration inside China.
- Live-streaming as the default distribution, not a side channel.
- Policy as an operating constraint.
03
Buyer behavior
- Users are already assembled. The brief is which title, which platform, which city event — not “how do we find gamers.”
04
Revenue model
- Domestic industry revenue in yuan. H1 2026: 13.115 billion. 2025 full year: 29.331 billion.
- Do not present a USD conversion here. No FX date is in the database.
05
Strategic implications
- A global esports sponsorship that ignores China is a partial map.
- Keep 2025 full-year and 2026 H1 on separate lines.
06
What this means for marketers
- Targeting: title + platform, not imported Western league fans.
- Partnerships: publishers and stream ecosystems.
- Channel: domestic live platforms first.
- Risk: say the policy constraint in the first meeting.
07
Risk factors
- Currency conversion theatre.
- User definition unspecified.
08
Sources and methodology
| Source | Year | Kind | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry ReportTrade | 2026 H1 | Revenue | First-half 2026 industry revenue, China. Not a full-year global USD figure. |
| China Report / 2026 Jan–Jun China Esports Industry ReportTrade | 2026 H1 | User base | Esports users in China at end-June 2026. |
| People’s DailyNews | 2025 | Revenue | Full-year 2025 China esports revenue. Cited as the world’s largest esports market that year. |
| People’s DailyNews | 2025 | User base | China esports users, 2025. Same 495 million level as the H1 2026 China Report figure. |