The Chinese e-sports industry recorded CN¥13.115 billion in revenue during the first half of this year, equivalent to approximately ₩2.8 trillion. The Game Publishing Committee (GPC) of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association released the 'January-June 2026 China E-sports Industry Report' at the '2026 Global E-sports Tournament' held at the Jing'an Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai on July 31. This semi-annual report follows the annual report released last December.

The year-on-year growth rate was 2.78%, less than half of the 6.10% recorded during the same period last year. Last year's annual revenue was CN¥29.331 billion with a growth rate of 6.40%, which local analysts noted was the highest in three years. In effect, the growth momentum has narrowed in just six months.

Live streaming continues to account for 80% of revenue. Specifically, live streaming made up 80.43%, while tournaments, team operations, and other sources combined for 19.57%. The GPC explained that the composition remains relatively stable, showing no significant changes compared to the same period last year.

For the full year last year, revenue was distributed as follows: broadcasting CN¥23.702 billion (80.81%), tournaments CN¥2.536 billion (8.65%), team operations CN¥1.871 billion (6.38%), and others CN¥1.222 billion (4.16%). The share of broadcasting revenue has remained at the 80% level for a year.

The user base grew by 0.55% to 495 million as of June. The GPC views user growth as having entered a stable phase over the past few years. By genre, FPS accounts for the largest share at 29%, followed by MOBA and sports games at 14% each. By platform, 58% of titles are mobile-based, while 25% are client-based. Among the top 10 mobile e-sports games by revenue, four are shooters and two are MOBAs; among the top 10 popular client games, six are shooters.

The GPC stated that the costs of hosting offline tournaments continue to rise. There were 91 non-exhibition tournaments involving professional players at the provincial level or higher in the first half of the year, an increase of 19 from the same period last year. This growth is attributed to the launch of new genre leagues and local governments hosting tournaments directly.

The increase in tournaments has shifted toward online formats. Only 25% of tournaments were held entirely offline, while 54% used a hybrid online/offline model, and 21% were held entirely online. The GPC noted that some operators are exploring new hosting methods as a contributing factor.

Shanghai was the most frequent host city for offline tournaments, accounting for 23.9%, followed by Wuhan at 10.2% and Guangzhou at 8%. This marks a shift from last year's annual survey, where Chengdu and Chongqing held the second and third spots. The number of teams stands at 164, down by one from 165 at the end of last year. Shanghai hosts 38 teams, Beijing and Shenzhen host 13 each, and Chengdu hosts 8. Based on tournament participation, 57.9% of teams compete in only a single game title.

A single match in an overseas tournament for a Chinese-developed game exceeded 5.68 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever for a Chinese e-sports tournament match abroad. Last year's record was 4.13 million. The GPC explained that this expansion follows growth in East and Southeast Asia, now extending into the Americas.

The GPC highlighted four key takeaways for the first half of the year: differentiated support policies by local governments, the penetration of tournaments into grassroots levels, the establishment of university e-sports systems, and the widespread application of AI in training, broadcasting, refereeing, and commentary. Citing that this is the first year of the '15th Five-Year Plan,' the committee also outlined its direction to prioritize policy support and the systematization of tournaments.