The people of China have always enjoyed playing video games and the amount of hype around video games in china is only increasing, with info-graphics showing most Chinese workers with a disposable income of around $400 a month, and slightly less for students mostly enjoy playing video games. PC is by far the most popular gaming platform for Chinese gamers, with MMOG’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) leading the way as the most popular game type.

So what games are most frequently played in china these days? This is a list compiled by QQ Games, showing the top 10 games most played by the Chinese in internet cafes;

1. DNF (also called Dungeon & Fighter, Dungeon Fighter Online, etc.). A Korean-developed beat-’em-up game that’s pretty old (released back in 2005) but still very popular in China.
2. CrossFire*. China’s version of Counter-Strike (a tactical first-person shooter), another oldie-but-goodie that was actually developed by Korean devs SmileGate and released in 2007.
3. League of Legends. The DOTA-based competitive online game that has been immensely popular worldwide.
4. QQ Speed. A 2008 racer developed and released by — no big surprise here — Tencent Games.
5. QQ X5* (QQ炫舞). A casual dance game also first released by Tencent in 2008.
6. Dream of the Three Kingdoms (梦三国). A fantasy battle game developed by Hangzhou-based Electric Soul and released in 2009.
7. AgainstWar (逆战). A Tencent-developed online first-person shooter first released in 2011.
8. Fantasy Journey to the West. A fantasy RPG developed by Netease and first released all the way back in 2003.
9. Counter-Strike Online. The original tactical first-person shooter, popular around the world and still played in China too. Developed by Valve and Nexon, originally released in 2008.
10. NBA2KOL. As you can probably guess, this is an online basketball game developed by 2K Sports.

World of Warcraft comes closely behind, almost making it into the Top 10.

Among the Top 30 there are a couple of Chinese local RPG games with traditional Chinese elements that are on the rise:

御龙在天 (Dragon in the Sky) is an online game developed by Tencent, a saga set during the period of Three Kingdoms.

A decade after its initial release, 大话西游 Online II (Westward Journey Online II) is till one of the most popular online games in China. The game is based on the classic Chinese novel 西游记 Journey to the West, and shares the same name as the immensely popular film trilogy 大话西游 Journey to the West.

The game 天龙八部 (Tian Long Ba Bu: Shen Bing Hai Yu) is based on the wuxia novel 天龙八部 (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils) by Jin Yong, where gamers role-play in the 江湖 jianghu (the world of martial artists).

The black horse 剑网3 (剑侠情缘网络版3, Swordsman III) was released by Kingsoft on June 8, and has already made it into top 30. This online game also combines the world of wuxia (martial arts fiction) with historical events, centered around the golden age and the decline of the Tang dynasty. Its first promotional video was about the An Lushan Rebellion, an incident that significantly weakened the dynasty.

Wuxia and mythologies have been the basis on which Chinese online games’ plots unwrap. While Chinese gamers are loyal fans of shooting games, Blizzard productions, as well as Diablo, online games developed by Chinese and other Asian companies with Chinese elements are increasingly sophisticated and localized, with more emphasis on graphics, the gaming experience, and creating worlds that resonate with Asian gamers’ cultural backgrounds.