In September, the overseas market gradually moved beyond the summer season. Against a backdrop of broadly declining revenue, publishers continued to show divergent performance.

In the non-game sector, the overall leading structure remained stable. Revenue performance among listed publishers continued to diverge, with some adjustments in the middle and lower ranks. Competition in the game sector remained intense, and rankings among mid-tier publishers were more active. Rapid scaling of individual new releases further amplified revenue elasticity and accelerated changes in the rankings.

Below is Diandian Data's Top 30 ranking of Chinese app and game publishers by overseas revenue in September 2026, together with notable publisher and product performance in this edition.

Share of Overseas Revenue Sources for Chinese Non-Game Publishers

By region, the United States remained the largest source of overseas revenue for Chinese non-game publishers, accounting for 46.0%, nearly half of total overseas revenue. The US offers both a large user base and strong spending power, and therefore continued to contribute major revenue in short-video, entertainment, imaging tools, lifestyle services and social applications.

By category, entertainment apps accounted for the largest share at 22.5%, while photo and video apps accounted for 18.8%. Together they represented more than 40%, showing that short video, livestreaming, image editing and content-creation tools remain the core monetization directions for non-game apps expanding overseas.

Top 30 Chinese Non-Game Publishers by Overseas Revenue in September

During the period, the non-game publisher ranking continued to show stable leaders alongside adjustments in the middle and lower ranks. ByteDance, Ruiqi Software and Meitu (HK:01357) led the top five. ByteDance's short-video social platform TikTok briefly declined at the beginning of September before rising quickly and remaining at a high level in the middle and latter part of the month. Expanding TikTok Shop transactions in major markets such as the United States, seasonal promotions and stronger livestreaming commercialization provided the main support for revenue growth; Southeast Asia's 9.9 promotion further boosted regional e-commerce GMV and platform traffic. With commercialization activities across multiple regions working together, ByteDance's overseas revenue reversed the decline seen over the previous months, rising more than 10.4% month over month.

Alibaba and Daily Yoga Move Up

Against a broad decline in revenue among listed publishers, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Daily Yoga both posted clear ranking improvements in the middle of the table. Alibaba's browser and search products, represented by UC Browser, together with its OTT streaming platforms, maintained relatively stable revenue overseas. This drove month-over-month overseas revenue growth of more than 20.8%, returning the company to the top 20.

Daily Yoga's dance-fitness app Dancefitme released consecutive updates from late August through September. The 7-Min Home Dance Workout launched at the beginning of the month received strong user feedback, driving a continued recovery in revenue. A series of square-dance and popular-dance content campaigns and fat-burning training courses launched around mid-month covered users of different ages and fitness levels through music-based, lightweight and diversified courses. This further improved course matching and usage frequency, effectively boosting membership renewals and helping both the product and the publisher's overseas revenue remain at peak-period levels. Monthly product revenue rose more than 25% month over month.

The Early Spring's Extra Episodes Boost YOUKU Revenue

YOUKU (NYSE:YOKU) recorded month-over-month overseas revenue growth of more than 63.3% last month, the strongest performance among listed publishers. Its overseas version of the video streaming app, YOUKU, quickly gained popularity in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Indonesia, after launching the Chinese drama The Early Spring in late August. On September 9, the international version opened additional episodes. Paid early access sharply increased demand for subscription services, with estimated daily product revenue peaking above US$65,000. At month-end, the product continued its global simultaneous release schedule with Irreplaceable, creating a relay of new dramas and stabilizing revenue.

At the bottom of the ranking, Youmai Technology's Instagram marketing tool Reports Unfollowers Followers+ saw a clear recovery in revenue across major markets such as the United States, driving more than 27% month-over-month growth in the publisher's overseas revenue. Other publishers that moved up last month included Tencent (HK:00700) and HelloTalk.

Share of Overseas Revenue Sources for Chinese Game Publishers

By region, overseas revenue for Chinese game publishers in September still came mainly from the United States and Japan. The United States accounted for 32.5% and Japan 21.8%; together, the two markets contributed 54.3% of revenue and formed the most important sources of overseas revenue for Chinese games.

By category, strategy games had the largest share at 21.6%, followed by role-playing games at 18.3%. These remain the core categories for Chinese games expanding overseas. Although individual casual, simulation and puzzle games may generate relatively limited revenue, their low barriers to entry and broad user reach make them an important supplement to revenue.

Top 30 Chinese Game Publishers by Overseas Revenue in September

In September, summer-season momentum gradually faded, but anniversary celebrations, version updates and localized operations in key markets continued to affect overseas revenue. Compared with the non-game ranking, game-publisher rankings remained more volatile. Leading publishers maintained relative stability through mature product portfolios, while mid-tier publishers saw larger adjustments under the influence of individual product cycles and time-limited campaigns.

37's Last Asylum and Z Route Reach New Revenue Highs

Most leading publishers saw varying degrees of decline in overseas revenue in September. Among the top five, only Sanqi Interactive Entertainment (SZ:002555) grew against the trend, with overseas revenue up more than 11.4% month over month. Its new title Last Asylum: Plague maintained strong momentum, with monthly revenue exceeding US$22.52 million and reaching a new high. However, most of this month's incremental growth came from another zombie-themed 4X SLG title, Z Route: Redemption. The game continued to receive version updates in September and launched the limited-time Aircrew Readiness event at month-end. Rich event content and exclusive rewards sustained payment activity, driving product revenue growth of more than 71.2% month over month and moving the title into a rapid growth phase.

Among the top 10 publishers, Lilith and Happibits also achieved growth, with overseas revenue rising more than 17% and 6.7% month over month, respectively. Lilith's new game Clash of Critters continued to expand revenue in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and in Japan and South Korea, with monthly overseas revenue exceeding US$25.37 million, up more than 61% and reaching a new high. Happibits benefited from the SpongeBob collaboration in Merge Cooking and the new title Foodstars: Merge & Cook. IP operations for mature products and the relay of new releases together drove a clear improvement in Happibits' ranking.

Duck Survival Becomes Another Overseas Revenue Pillar

In the middle of the ranking, 4399's overseas publishing brand Joy Net Games released Duck Survival in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in late August, and the title maintained its initial launch momentum. It generated estimated first-month revenue of more than US$6.36 million in those markets, while estimated overseas revenue in September approached US$10 million, gradually becoming an important growth pillar. Driven by the scaling of the new release, 4399's overseas revenue increased more than 40.1% month over month, returning the company to 11th place.

Lumi Master Performs Strongly Worldwide

Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI) recorded month-over-month overseas revenue growth of more than 56.4% in September, making it the publisher with the most significant ranking and data improvement in this edition. Growth was mainly driven by its first self-developed title launched for the global market, Lumi Master. The game entered global open beta on September 17 after multiple rounds of testing and had accumulated more than 3 million pre-registrations. It generated estimated first-month revenue of more than US$3.7 million in less than two weeks. Collaboration campaigns with IPs including Vegetable Elf, Siamese Lip and Peach Cat continued afterward. Based on the revenue trend, estimated daily revenue stabilized at around US$300,000, with no obvious decline in launch momentum.

Wild Water World Scales Quickly in Its First Month and Reverses the Overall Decline

At the bottom of the ranking, Yishijie also achieved a substantial ranking improvement after the global launch of Wild Water World. With its differentiated 'survival at sea after the apocalypse' theme and lightweight gameplay combining simulation management and SLG elements, the product scaled rapidly in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, China. It generated estimated first-month revenue of more than US$5.24 million, temporarily replacing Lands of Jail as the publisher's highest-grossing monthly title. Driven by the game, the publisher's overseas revenue reversed its downward trend and rose more than 24.3% month over month.

Other publishers with notable ranking gains last month included Moonton, Mibo Game, Lingxi Games, Hypergryph, Papergames and Youpin Technology.