Annual Comparison of China's Game Global UA Spending, 2019-2023

Market Size Overview

From 2019 to 2023, China's game global user acquisition (UA) spending experienced rapid growth followed by an adjustment. According to industry estimates, it peaked at about $5.2 billion in 2021, then declined to $4.8 billion and $4.4 billion in 2022 and 2023 respectively, due to IDFA policy tightening, global inflation, and intensified competition.

Key Trends

• Growth Period (2019-2021): Jumped from $3.2 billion to $5.2 billion, with a CAGR of 27.5%, driven by overseas mobile game boom and short-video platform traffic dividends.
• Adjustment Period (2021-2023): Declined for two consecutive years, a cumulative drop of about 15.4%. Rising UA costs and harder user acquisition were main reasons, but top publishers maintained efficiency through creative optimization and hybrid monetization.

Drivers and Challenges

• Drivers: Growth in emerging markets (Southeast Asia, Latin America), sustained spending on mid-core/hardcore games (SLG, RPG), and innovation in live-streaming and social UA.
• Challenges: Apple's ATT policy raised iOS costs by 30%-50%, Google's Privacy Sandbox increases Android uncertainty; fierce competition drove up CPI generally.

Future Outlook

Spending is expected to stabilize in the $4.5-5.0 billion range in 2024-2025. AI-driven automated UA and full-funnel data monitoring may help alleviate cost pressures.