For the first time in five years, China’s game industry has experienced an annual decline in revenue and users. At the China Game Industry Annual Conference in Guangzhou on Tuesday, the 2022 China Game Industry Report was released, revealing that revenue from China’s gaming market in 2022 was RMB 265.884 billion (approximately $39 billion), down 10.33% year-on-year. The number of game users for the year was 664 million, a decrease of 0.33% year-on-year. The industry report pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic as having had a negative impact on new game development, with a sluggish economy affecting investment and financing for companies and game users’ budgets. Additionally, it noted that the industry faced competition from overseas games, which it said may have contributed to a decrease in revenue and users in the domestic market. [Caixin, in Chinese]