2024 has apparently been the year of China’s ascendency on Steam. While there has always been good proportion of Chinese gamers on the digital platform, last year saw Simplified Chinese overtake English as the most-used primary language on Valve’s platform.
According to Game Discover, Steam’s GDC data shows that 66% of users don’t have English set as their primary language. 33.5% of users have English set as their primary language, while 33.7% of users have it set to Simplified Chinese.
It’s worth noting that not all the users with English set as their primary language are themselves primary English speakers. Some countries simply use it for ease, but the data shows which territories and languages need translation the most.
With titles like Black Myth: Wukong showing the highs gaming in China can reach, perhaps we’re finally seeing a huge audience be recognised by the mainstream.