More South Korean games won approvals from the Chinese government in the first half of this year, lifting expectations they will contribute to earnings. China granted foreign game licences to seven Korea-linked titles from January to June, according to the National Press and Publication Administration. Companies are increasingly working with local partners such as Tencent rather than running services directly. Some recently launched Korean games have posted early results in China, though sustained performance will depend on live operations.

Smilegate has begun full-scale service in China for dark fantasy roguelike RPG \'Chaos Zero Nightmare\', developed by Super Creative, in partnership with local publisher Tencent. The game officially opened at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and topped China’s Apple App Store free download rankings at launch. To mark the release, Smilegate is pre-releasing a new combatant, \'Fei\', and running events. More than 5.5 million users joined pre-registration.