Shanghai has just wrapped up one of the world’s largest computer entertainment expos – ChinaJoy. The Moscow Video Games and Animation Cluster featured more than 20 projects from 12 studios, 18 of which were being shown in China for the first time. This marks the largest Russian delegation since the country began participating in the event. The spotlight was on simulators and games drawing on Russian classics, including an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Analysts view this shift as a transition from straightforward export to genuine cultural exchange.
The trend is borne out by data. In the first half of 2026, revenue from China’s domestic gaming market rose 12.2% year‑on‑year to RMB 188.45 billion, while overseas sales of Chinese games jumped 30.2% to $12.37 billion. Russia remains a strategic priority: in 2025, the country ranked seventh globally in mobile game downloads and fifth in time spent playing. Total downloads for the year reached 2.04 billion, with average monthly playtime at 11.5 hours.
Chinese titles hold a significant share of Russia’s domestic market in the RPG (role‑playing game) genre. Genshin Impact, for instance, racked up 63.5 million search queries on Yandex in 2025. On the RuStore platform, China now accounts for 80% of the foreign advertising budget and 60% of all apps in the catalogue.
The gaming industry is turning into a bridge between cultural codes. Russia offers a distinctive cultural narrative, while China brings technology and scale. Over the long haul, this partnership has the potential to shape a Eurasian gaming cluster that stands independent of Western trends and platforms.
