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Ann Cao

Chinese video gaming companies are doubling down on artificial intelligence to enhance their titles and explore new growth opportunities, driven by rapid advances in AI models, according to executives at ChinaJoy – the country’s largest annual digital entertainment expo.
The four-day event in Shanghai drew a surge of AI companies eager to forge or deepen partnerships with local studios focused on adopting AI-driven technologies.
Huawei Technologies, the Shenzhen-based telecommunications equipment giant, took centre stage with a large booth showcasing the HarmonyOS operating system, its Android alternative that is gaining traction among Chinese game developers.
More than 6,500 games have launched on HarmonyOS so far, including popular titles like Anipop and Subway Surfers. Huawei said its AI agent Xiaoyi, also known as Celia, enhanced the mobile gaming experience by blocking calls and messages and answering player questions in real time.
In the first half of this year, sales in China’s video gaming market rose 14 per cent from a year earlier to a record high of 168 billion yuan (US$23.4 billion), according to a report from the Gaming Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association.
That growth rate outpaced the 2 per cent increase seen during the same period last year, fuelled by increased government support and the industry’s accelerated adoption of AI technologies, the group said.

“There are a lot more things AI can do in video games” compared with several years ago, with the technology being applied across various stages from development to player engagement, said Jeff Zou, vice-president of US-based GameBot.
The start-up, founded by AI scientists from Tencent Holdings, collaborates with the Chinese tech giant and other major developers, as well as smaller studios, to create in-game bots and AI non-player characters.
“Large companies are adopting more AI technologies like large language models (LLMs) and reinforcement learning on their game agents,” Zou said, adding that the rapid progress in LLMs enabled the bots to conduct multi-round conversations with players.
Vast, a start-up specialising in AI-generated three-dimensional technology, showcased its Tripo AI platform, which has been used to build major titles, including NetEase’s action-adventure role-playing game Where Winds Meet, launched in December and marketed as a home-grown “triple-A” title.
The competition in 3D-generation models is intensifying. Last month, Tencent unveiled its Hunyuan 3D World Model 1.0, an open-source AI model designed to produce intricate three-dimensional environments.
At the event, Chinese gaming companies – from industry giants like Tencent and NetEase to smaller studios like 37Games – highlighted their efforts in integrating AI into their businesses.
Yu Ruichao, vice-president at Tencent’s video gaming division, said the company made strides in incorporating AI into game production, as well as expanding its applications from back-end processes to enhancing the front-end user experience.


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From AI-generated characters to 3D technology, companies showcase the expanding applications of AI in video games


From AI-generated characters to 3D technology, companies showcase the expanding applications of AI in video games.


ChinaJoy 2025: Tencent, Huawei and smaller studios leverage AI to boost video gaming

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From AI-generated characters to 3D technology, companies showcase the expanding applications of AI in video games

From AI-generated characters to 3D technology, companies showcase the expanding applications of AI in video games