CEO of CE-Asia, Wu Li, has revealed that the action RPG genre has an easy entry point for Chinese developers.
This information was disclosed by Li during an interview with Eurogamer. If you are interested in Chinese games, you can check out our other articles here.
Wu Li: The Action RPG Genre Has an Easy Entry Point for Chinese Developers
May 14, 2025 – Speaking with Eurogamer, several Chinese developers and publishers dived deeper into exploring why the Chinese gaming industry has become as big as it is now.
Although most of them agree that there is pressure from the success of Black Myth: Wukong and maintaining the authenticity of Chinese culture as the core of their games, one interesting topic of discussion is the soaring popularity of the action RPG genre in the Chinese gaming industry.
The director of Phantom Blade Zero, “Soulframe” Liang, compared the shift from mobile to PC and console gaming in China to the “golden age of PS1 and PS2” when “everyone was doing amazing things, even though teams weren’t very large and budgets weren’t as big as they are now.”
“What is most interesting is certainly the performance of console games compared to mobile games, the luxurious graphics and controls, and also the storytelling in the games. All these features are best presented in an action RPG,” added Liang.
CEO of CE-Asia, Wu Li, described action RPGs as a “big and classic game genre” that many Chinese developers played in their childhood, making it familiar. In recent years, the genre has also experienced a resurgence due to the popularity of Genshin Impact.
“Thanks to them, the number of action RPG players has increased,” said Li. “These factors contribute to the action RPG genre having a large market potential. For developers, action RPGs are manageable projects.”
Li continued, “This genre has good engine support and a sophisticated formula to follow. The action RPG genre has an easy entry point and developers can better manage their budgets. These factors are essential for beginner development teams.”
COO of Eclipse Glow Games, Ary Chen, also noted that their developers are fans of the action RPG genre and they feel that it is “something we can do well.”
When asked if there’s competition among them for adopting the same genre, Li answered yes with certain notes.
“When it comes to single-player games, I think the competition becomes much more friendly because no matter how good your game is, players can only play your game for, let’s say, one month at most,” replied Li. “Then they’ll move on to another game.”
Li added, “If Black Myth: Wukong sells well, it will open up the market for everyone because no one will play Black Myth: Wukong for their entire life.”
“They will finish the game and feel happy, and they gain confidence in the market and the production capacities of Chinese studios, and they will play other Chinese games.”
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