This October, China’s game market has entered the year-end final push for new launches. A string of high-profile titles have rolled out key milestone updates, with pre-registration and wishlist numbers climbing steadily, injecting strong momentum into Q4 market performance. Among them, Tencent’s two IP-adapted new releases — Monster Hunter Outlanders and The Hidden Ones — have delivered impressive results in their respective segments. Meanwhile, Phantom Blade Zero, a domestic action standalone game, has ranked among the top most anticipated titles on Steam on the back of its soaring popularity. Across different market tracks, these three works collectively demonstrate the consumption resilience of China’s game market.
Co-developed by Tencent TiMi Studio Group and Capcom, Monster Hunter Outlanders stands as one of the most closely watched new mobile titles in the global games market of late. Since its unveiling, the game has sustained strong player attention driven by the global appeal of the Monster Hunter IP, as well as its mobile-optimized control experience and social gameplay. On October 18, official confirmation arrived that the game’s global pre-registrations had surpassed the 13 million mark, alongside the unlock of the exclusive reward promised for the 10 million pre-registration milestone. For the industry, this figure not only validates the vast potential of migrating classic console IPs to mobile platforms, but also embodies the joint R&D and global publishing capabilities of Tencent and Capcom in the mid-to-hardcore mobile action game space.
Also within Tencent’s product portfolio, The Hidden Ones — a new 3D fighting game adapted from a top Chinese animation IP — has recently finalized its launch timeline. The studio confirmed the game will officially launch in December, with its final beta test kicking off on November 4; its cross-platform pre-registrations have already exceeded 30 million to date. Built on the original work’s massive fan base and distinctive Eastern worldview, The Hidden Ones prioritizes accessible fighting gameplay and faithful in-depth story adaptation, seeking to break beyond the niche audience of traditional fighting games and reach a broader mass user base. Judging by its pre-registration scale, the combination of Chinese animation IP and differentiated fighting mechanics has earned initial market recognition, and is on track to become another traffic growth driver in Tencent’s year-end product lineup.
In the PC standalone segment, Phantom Blade Zero, a martial arts action title developed by S-GAME, is also gaining rapid traction. According to official disclosures, the game has entered the top 10 of Steam’s most-wanted upcoming titles, with total cross-platform wishlists surpassing 3 million. It is scheduled for official release on October 29. As a sequel to a homegrown original IP, Phantom Blade Zero takes its signature ink-wash art style, fast-paced smooth combat rhythm and satisfying hit feedback as core selling points, and multiple prior playtests have drawn positive reviews from both players and media outlets. The 3 million wishlist result also marks a new popularity high for domestic action standalone games in recent periods, reflecting steadily rising recognition among PC players for high-quality original Chinese works.
For players, the next two months will see the game market enter a densely packed new release season with an overwhelming array of options. On mobile, blockbuster IP titles are entering beta and launching in succession; on the standalone front, premium new releases are rolling out one after another. Players with different preferences will all find titles worth looking forward to. Whether these highly hyped works can ultimately live up to players’ lofty expectations, however, will only be proven after their official launches.
*Data aggregation is sourced from Gghubs.