Before National Day Arrives, the Gaming Industry Heats Up Early: Asian Games Esports, Offline Exhibitions, New Launches and Ranking Shifts All Gather Momentum
In the final week of September, China’s gaming industry has already shifted into "holiday mode" ahead of schedule. Esports events at the Asian Games are kicking off, while offline exhibitions are gearing up for the National Day holiday window. On the publisher side, HoYoverse has laid out its strategic direction with an upcoming new title, while on the data front, a shake-up in the global mobile game revenue rankings has made headlines. Taken together, these developments paint a clear picture of the booming momentum and competitive tensions building on the eve of the industry’s peak season.
The League of Legends competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games launches on September 29, with group stages held on September 30 and the gold medal match decided via a best-of-five (BO5) series on October 2. The timing is particularly well-calibrated: even before the National Day holiday officially begins, audiences are already drawn into the viewing rhythm. Since esports became an official medal sport at the Asian Games, its influence has expanded far beyond core gamer circles. Medal outcomes, team performances and live stream popularity all spill over into mainstream public discourse, delivering a rare wave of concentrated exposure for platforms and brands alike.
Beyond esports events, offline exhibitions are also vying for National Day traffic. The second edition of Xiaohongshu’s RED LAND runs through the entire National Day Golden Week, featuring over 100 games and animation IPs. Tencent, NetEase and HoYoverse will showcase 10, 6 and 4 titles respectively at the event. In recent years, game marketing has relied heavily on online user acquisition, but as traffic costs continue to rise, the industry is rediscovering the advantages of offline exhibitions: immersive experiences, social buzz potential and longer user dwell time. With heavy foot traffic during the National Day holiday, hybrid formats like RED LAND that combine "gaming + animation + photo check-ins" have become a prime opportunity for publishers to acquire new users and re-engage lapsed players.
In an official Q&A about its upcoming game, HoYoverse confirmed that the game is a mythological action game focused on multiplayer co-op. Characters will be unlocked through continuous gameplay rather than gacha pulls, and the title will launch first on PC. This announcement has drawn significant attention, as it marks a notable departure from the gacha-based progression formula that HoYoverse has long been known for. While the "no gacha" stance does not mean the company is abandoning monetization entirely, it at least signals that the new title will prioritize gameplay itself, while a PC-first launch strategy aims to capture a broader user base.
On the global market front, subtle shifts are unfolding in the competitive landscape of Chinese game publishers. According to Sensor Tower data, Century Games’ global mobile game revenue has surpassed NetEase since June this year, and it retained its position as the industry’s second-largest player in August, trailing only Tencent. This marks the first shake-up in the long-standing "Tencent-NetEase-HoYoverse" top-three echelon. Behind this change is the breakthrough of second-tier publishers through differentiated product positioning and refined global operations, which also reflects the overall improvement in the overseas competitiveness of Chinese game companies.
Overall, China’s gaming industry is transitioning from a scale recovery phase to a high-quality development stage. With more new titles launching in the fourth quarter, offline events rolling out successively and esports momentum continuing to build, the industry is expected to sustain its current positive trajectory, unlocking more growth potential in product innovation and global expansion. *Data aggregation is sourced from Gghubs.