It’s so, so tempting. China is massive, with a billion-plus internet users. It’s rich, with a huge fraction of mobile game revenue getting earned in China. And it’s smartphone-centric.
So every successful game developer thinks about taking their app to China.
But how do you do it?
I recently interviewed Josh Burns for my client Singular. He’s worked with most of the huge names in the mobile and gaming spaces: EA, Zynga, Kabam, Nexon, Atari, and more. He helps western game developers and publishers enter China, and Chinese developers and publishers enter the west, and he’s the founder of DigitalDevConnect.
An excerpt:
The list of Western apps that have made it big in China is not long. There are some great games on that list, including ones from major studios Supercell and Riot Games. Games like Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja made the cut, and Subway Surfers and PUBG are big globally as well as in China.
But as Josh Burns explains, it’s probably easier to list the apps that failed.
He has a lot of experience with apps in general and China in particular.
…
I chatted with him recently, and along with a lot of advice about what NOT to do, he shared 12 keys to success in bringing mobile apps to China.
Here’s his best insight about taking apps and games from the west and bringing them east.