Trending in China: Cyberpunk 2077 Hits Jackpot in Flourishing China Games Market

What’s trending?

Cyberpunk 2077, a game based on an alternative near future, has created a stir on Chinese social media since its release on Dec 10. The hashtag #cyberpunk2077# has been viewed over a billion times on Weibo, and up to 80% of buyers have given the game a positive review on Steam, one of the biggest digital distribution services for video games around the world. The Polish developer’s marketing strategy for the Chinese market is believed to be key to its success.

What’s the story?

Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt Red’s first try at entering the Chinese market. Upon releasing the game, the central European company launched a marketing campaign specifically for the China market. One of few AAA megagames to be fully dubbed and translated into Mandarin Chinese, Cyberpunk 2077 has earned a good reputation for the hard work and non-profit orientation of its maker.

The Chinese gaming market is growing rapidly. According to a report by Tencent, in 2019, sales revenues for the Chinese gaming market were around 230 billion CNY (35 billion USD) and in 2020, estimated revenues are expected to jump by 17% to 270 billion CNY.

What are people saying online?

Positive reviews have flooded Chinese social media. Some Chinese gamers appreciated the effort the company put into the translation and dubbing. “The dubbing is awesome. There is no sense that this is machine-translated. Very authentic,” one comment read.

Cyberpunk 2077 has nonetheless been criticised for a delayed release, having initially been set to launch in April. After three postponements, gamers’ high expectations were left unmet, especially those playing on last generation consoles (PS4 and Xbox One). One comment read, “I am quite disappointed. The gamer bases on PS4 and Xbox One are still huge… but there are so many bugs which make the game look like it was from ten years ago.”

 

– This article originally appeared on Caixin Global.