Most China guides list platforms. This one shows what each platform tells you about your game. Where the free China Radar already tracks a platform, the entry includes real numbers from it, so you can check the claim yourself.
| Chinese platform | Closest Western equivalent | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Steam (global) | Steam | Selling your PC game in China today |
| Xiaoheihe 小黑盒 | SteamDB + Reddit | The score Chinese players check before buying |
| Bilibili B站 | YouTube | Long-form let's plays and creator coverage |
| TapTap | Google Play + Steam reviews | Mobile pre-registration and dev logs |
| Douyin 抖音 | TikTok | Short clips and ads |
| WeChat 微信 | WhatsApp + email newsletter | Talking to creators and publishers |
| QQ groups QQ群 | Discord | Your player community |
| Baidu Tieba 贴吧 | A subreddit per game | Seeing if you already have core fans |
Where Chinese players buy and rate games
Steam (global) Steam 国际版
≈ Steam, the same storeThe main way Chinese players buy Western PC games. You don't need a Chinese licence to sell here, and Simplified Chinese is the biggest language on Steam.
Radar data: 42.5% of all Steam reviews for Dave the Diver are in Simplified Chinese, 34.9% for The King is Watching and 30.2% for Streets of Rogue. Helldivers 2 is 80% positive in English but only 32% positive across 116,816 Simplified Chinese reviews.
- To get in
- A Simplified Chinese store page and a Chinese game name. Set your CNY price yourself; Valve's suggested price is only a starting point.
- Common mistake
- Reading only the overall score. Filter reviews by Simplified Chinese. One in four games scores 10+ points lower there.
Steam China 蒸汽平台
≈ a separate, licensed SteamA separate client run by Perfect World, with a small catalogue of games that hold a Chinese publishing licence (版号). It is not where most Chinese Steam players buy.
- To get in
- A publishing licence, usually through a Chinese publisher.
- Common mistake
- Thinking you must be on Steam China to sell in China. You don't; global Steam already sells to Chinese players.
Xiaoheihe 小黑盒 (HeyBox)
≈ SteamDB + IsThereAnyDeal + RedditThe app Chinese Steam players open before they buy. It shows its own score, price history, discount alerts and coupons, and hosts discussion about each game. It also sells keys.
Radar data: Stardew Valley scores 9.9 from 44,422 ratings. Helldivers 2 scores 6.7 from 13,475. The King is Watching scores 8.7 from 559 ratings, with a 10% coupon taking it from ¥49 to ¥45.
- To get in
- Nothing. Your Steam game gets a page automatically. Read it like you read your Steam reviews.
- Common mistake
- Ignoring it because you don't control it. Its score and comments are what Chinese players see before they buy.
WeGame
≈ Epic Games Store, run by TencentTencent's PC store and launcher, connected to QQ and WeChat accounts. It carries licensed PC games, often released with a Chinese publisher.
- To get in
- A publishing partner and, for paid sales, a licence.
- Common mistake
- Treating it as a self-serve store like Steam. It's a publishing deal, not an upload.
TapTap
≈ Google Play store page + Steam reviews + RedditChina's main independent mobile game store and community, with a growing PC section. Players pre-register, review and follow developer posts.
- To get in
- You can open a page and collect pre-registrations without a licence. A paid or in-app-purchase launch in mainland China needs one.
- Common mistake
- A silent page. TapTap players expect the developer to post updates and reply.
Taobao 淘宝
≈ eBay, for Steam keys and gift cardsSteam keys, gifts and wallet codes are resold here. Keys from giveaways and bundles often turn up for sale.
- To get in
- Nothing to set up. Search your game's Chinese name to see who is reselling your keys.
- Common mistake
- Giving out keys in bulk without tracking where each batch went.
Video and live streaming
Bilibili 哔哩哔哩 · B站
≈ YouTube for gamingWhere Chinese PC players watch long let's plays, reviews and guides, with danmaku comments flying over the video. It's the first place to look for creator coverage of your game.
Radar data: Bilibili views don't equal buyers. Hello Neighbor has 161 million views across the videos we track (one video alone has 15.3 million), but only 1.8% of its Steam reviews are in Chinese. Streets of Rogue has 13.2 million views and 30.2% Chinese reviews. The top video for Dave the Diver comes from the game's own official Chinese channel, with 3.36 million plays.
- To get in
- You can open a personal account with an international phone number. A verified official account usually needs a Chinese company or an agent.
- Common mistake
- Counting views. Check whether the creator's audience actually buys PC games.
Douyin 抖音
≈ TikTok, same owner, separate appShort video for discovery, ads and live streams. It matters most for mobile and casual games.
- To get in
- In practice, a Chinese phone number. An official account needs a Chinese entity or a partner.
- Common mistake
- Reposting TikTok edits. The trending sounds, caption style and humour are different. Not tracked by the Radar yet.
Kuaishou 快手
≈ TikTok, for smaller citiesDouyin's main rival, stronger outside the big cities and with mass-market mobile players.
- To get in
- Same as Douyin: a local number and, for official use, a local partner.
- Common mistake
- Making it a priority for a premium PC indie. Start with Bilibili.
Huya 虎牙 and Douyu 斗鱼
≈ TwitchChina's two big game live-streaming sites, built around esports, competitive games and streamer personalities.
- To get in
- Through streamers and their agencies, not an account of your own.
- Common mistake
- Expecting long-tail discovery here. Streams are live and gone; Bilibili videos keep getting found.
Player communities
WeChat 微信
≈ WhatsApp + email newsletter + LinkedInHow Chinese creators, publishers and press actually reply. An Official Account works like a blog with a newsletter attached.
- To get in
- A personal account works with an international phone number. An Official Account for a foreign company needs verification.
- Common mistake
- Asking Chinese creators to join your Discord. Give them a WeChat ID.
QQ groups QQ群
≈ DiscordWhere Chinese player communities for a game gather. Discord isn't accessible in mainland China without a VPN.
- To get in
- A QQ account and a group number to put on your Steam page and in your game.
- Common mistake
- Opening a group nobody moderates. Have someone who reads Chinese check it daily.
Baidu Tieba 百度贴吧
≈ a subreddit for each gameEach topic gets its own "bar" (吧). If your game has one, it has core fans. It's also where bug reports and complaints about translations pile up.
- To get in
- Search "[your game's Chinese name]吧".
- Common mistake
- Searching only the English name. Players use the Chinese one.
NGA NGA玩家社区
≈ ResetEraA long-running forum for hardcore PC, strategy and MMO players. Opinions formed in its long threads spread to other platforms.
- To get in
- Read first. Players there notice studio marketing quickly.
- Common mistake
- Writing it off as old. For strategy and RPG games it's still where hardcore players argue.
Zhihu 知乎
≈ QuoraLong, considered answers that rank in Baidu search and get quoted by Chinese AI assistants.
- To get in
- An account, and one useful answer about your game's design or history.
- Common mistake
- Posting an ad. Answers that read as marketing get voted down.
Xiaohongshu 小红书 (RedNote)
≈ Instagram + Pinterest + review searchYoung users, many of them women, who search it like a review engine. Cozy, cute and decorating games travel well here.
- To get in
- An account opens with an international number. Post screenshots and short clips that look like a player's own post.
- Common mistake
- Hard-sell posts. They get skipped.
Weibo 微博
≈ X (Twitter)Announcements, publisher accounts and trending topics. Useful for news, less so for building a community.
- To get in
- An account opens with an international number. Verification for a company takes paperwork.
- Common mistake
- Treating it as your main channel for an indie game. Bilibili and HeyBox matter more.
Press and industry
Gamersky 游民星空, 3DM and Youxia 游侠网
≈ IGN / GameSpotThe big Chinese game news, review and guide sites. They also host patches and mods.
- To get in
- A Chinese press release and keys, sent by someone who writes Chinese.
- Common mistake
- Sending an English press release and expecting it to get translated.
Gcores 机核
≈ Giant BombPodcasts, long articles and game culture for a core audience that likes indie games.
- To get in
- A good story behind your game, not just the feature list.
- Common mistake
- Pitching it like a news site. Gcores runs features, not announcements.
indienova
≈ itch.io's community + Game DeveloperChina's indie developer community, with a game database, dev logs and jams.
- To get in
- A game page and a dev log in Chinese.
- Common mistake
- Seeing it only as a press outlet. It's also where you meet Chinese indie studios to work with.
Youxiputao 游戏葡萄 and GameLook
≈ GamesIndustry.bizBusiness news read by Chinese publishers, investors and studio heads.
- To get in
- Something with numbers in it: sales, a deal, a launch result.
- Common mistake
- Pitching players' news to a business outlet.
Where to start, by game type
Chinese Steam page → HeyBox score → Bilibili creators → WeChat for talking to them.
TapTap page and dev logs → Douyin clips → Bilibili.
Xiaohongshu and Bilibili, with your Steam page in good Chinese.
NGA and Tieba threads → long Bilibili videos → HeyBox.
How these numbers were collected. Radar figures come from public Steam, Xiaoheihe and Bilibili pages, collected on 28 September 2026 for the 48 games the China Radar tracked at the time. Bilibili views are the total across the videos the Radar tracks for each game, not every video ever posted. YLX isn't affiliated with any platform listed here. Access rules change, so check them before you rely on them.
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