Chinese builders wowed Gamescom 2025 with hits like Phantom Blade Zero and Black Myth: Zhong Kui, highlighting China’s rising energy in gaming.
COLOGNE, Germany, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Tim’s fingers tightened on his PS5 controller because the Chinese phrase for “death,” or “game over,” appeared repeatedly on the display. The black-clad hero he was guiding carried the aura of Chinese martial-arts fantasy, drawing one of many longest queues at Gamescom 2025.
“The art style is really cool, and even the boss fight I just cleared looked great,” mentioned the younger gamer from Germany’s Harz after a one-hour demo. Titled “Phantom Blade Zero,” the upcoming motion role-playing recreation has already notched up 6 million views for its newest gameplay video on YouTube.
More than midway by the five-day occasion, a document 50 Chinese exhibitors made their presence not possible to overlook, their cubicles among the many busiest on the world’s largest video games truthful.
On Gamescom’s Opening Night Live showcase on Tuesday, Chinese studio Game Science closed the occasion with a flourish, unveiling its newest title “Black Myth: Zhong Kui.” Introduced by the host as “the last surprise before saying good night,” the two-minute trailer was met with thunderous cheers in Cologne and on the worldwide livestream.
The studio had launched “Black Myth: Wukong” precisely a 12 months earlier, China’s first AAA recreation impressed by the traditional novel “Journey to the West,” now a world hit. Its new title, Zhong Kui, attracts on Chinese folklore, bringing to life the legendary ghost catcher with fierce eyes and a thick beard.
Grace Pan, senior challenge supervisor at Cologne Exhibition Center (Koelnmesse), co-organizer of Gamescom (styled as “gamescom” by the organizers) alongside the German Games Industry Association, mentioned Chinese recreation builders lately have emerged as “true content creators” and “peers of leading European, U.S. and Japanese studios.”
“Chinese developers are bringing a wide variety of new titles, advanced production techniques and distinctive elements such as Chinese martial arts and mythology,” Pan informed Xinhua. Their authentic works, she added, stand out with robust visuals, storytelling, and gameplay.
A report launched forward of the truthful by the German Games Industry Association confirmed the rising recognition of Chinese cell titles in Germany. Four Chinese-developed merchandise ranked amongst Germany’s 10 most-downloaded cell video games in 2024.
In Germany, house to 37.5 million gamers and Europe’s largest gaming market, smartphones stay the highest platform, utilized by greater than half of all avid gamers, with consoles reminiscent of PlayStation and Xbox shut behind, the report famous.
That pattern was additionally mirrored at this 12 months’s Gamescom, the place three Chinese titles had been nominated among the many 5 contenders for Best Mobile Game. The award went to “Love and Deepspace” on Friday, a romantic sci-fi title developed by Shanghai-based Infold Games.
The rising footprint of Chinese builders, coupled with the rise of China’s gaming ecosystem, can be opening doorways for partnerships in Europe.
In a written interview with Xinhua, Felix Falk, managing director of the German Games Industry Association, mentioned collaborations between Chinese studios and their counterparts in Germany and the broader Europe have gotten extra frequent, enabling each side to raised perceive and entry one another’s markets.
Tencent, China’s gaming large, provides a snapshot of that strategy. The firm introduced greater than 10 new titles to Gamescom, together with tasks constructed on worldwide IPs or in partnerships with famend European studios, reminiscent of yet-to-be-released “Dune: Awakening” and “Dying Light: The Beast.” Tencent additionally unveiled an AI-powered software for recreation artwork manufacturing, positioned as a approach to foster collaboration on the technical degree.
“As the global games industry becomes increasingly interconnected, we will likely see even more cooperation in the future,” Falk mentioned.