The Asia-Pacific region led by China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to the latest Sage Game subdivision market report by Video Game Insights, has become the “dominant area of this type of game at the level of developers, distributors and consumers”. The study tracks the development of this sub-category since 2015 through an analysis of the Steam Platform “Speech” label.
Studies have shown that, despite the global prevalence of the spirit game, its development between 2020 and 2025 was “manifestly tilted in favour of the Asia-Pacific region”, especially in terms of sales. The growth in sales in the Asia-Pacific region of the Steam platform was driven mainly by the AA and AAA levels, with Black Myths: The Gokus peaking at 2.3 million sales, Alden Ring seconding with 15.6 million, Monster Hunters: The World, The Spirit of Darkness, and Hades, three to five.
Steam’s game labels are pretty general and random. Players and distributors can add them.
According to VGI, since 2015, the sale of steam-type hulls was initially dominated by AAA major plants, and in 2017 it was “a part of the market seized by AA developers” but soon “retakes control”. Almost three quarters of AAA works were sold in 2024, and in 2025 their share rose further to 70 per cent. From a development perspective, 2019 was the peak year of a spirit-like game, and works like Heidis, the Code of Bloodthirsty, The Blasphemy of God, and AAAs such as Wolves: Two Shadows. The rate of growth slowed between 2020 and 2021 because of the impact of the epidemic on only one of King Jin’s heavyweight works. From 2022 to date, the Alden Ring of Law, the Black Myth: The Goku, has pushed this type to the “mainstream” and the influence of Chinese developers, distributors and players has continued to increase.
The data also show that Steam’s work labeled as “the spirit” increased significantly, from 263 in 2023 to 371 in 2024, an increase of 41 per cent. Initially driven by independent games, the number of AAs and AAAs works is “relatively stable over time”. With regard to the distribution of players, Chinese players have become the central driver of the game, accounting for 47 per cent of the total number of players, with the United States second in 23 per cent, followed by Germany (5 per cent), Russia (5 per cent) and Canada (4 per cent), with the rest accounting for 15 per cent.
In conclusion, VGI concludes: “This small crowd type, which began with the FromSoftware ‘ s unique vision, has evolved into the global pillar of game design, valued by AAA issuers and nurtured by creative and independent studios. This type has shown remarkable resilience, successfully breaking the stagnation transition to the mainstream. Looking to the future, the continued market demand for difficult and skillful play suggests that the spirit-like game will continue to serve as a creative testing ground to shape the battle system, narrative design and player engagement strategies of the whole game industry.” In particular, the report highlights the importance of the Asia-Pacific region for the promotion of this type of game: “Japan has laid the foundation, but China and Korea have rapidly expanded their influence to become both a centre of creativity and a key consumer market. In particular, China now occupies the base of nearly half of the world’s players, which means that the long-term survival of any type of holocaust often depends on the ability to attract Chinese players.”