The overseas market maintained its summer momentum in August, but performance diverged further among publishers.

In non-gaming, the leading structure saw no major changes and most ranked publishers declined. Competition in games was more intense, with publisher rankings continuing to revolve around new launches, anniversary events, and operations in key markets. The performance of individual titles is having a more direct impact on ranking changes among mid-tier publishers.

Below are Diandian Data's Top 30 rankings for the overseas revenue of Chinese app and game publishers in August 2026, together with notable performances from publishers and products in this issue.

Top 30 Chinese Non-Gaming Publishers by Overseas Revenue in August

During the reporting period, the non-gaming publisher rankings in August continued to show stable leaders and modest adjustments in the middle. ByteDance, Raccoon Software, and Meitu (HK:01357) remained the top three, but revenue performance diverged significantly among the leaders. Apart from Meitu (HK:01357), whose data rose modestly by 3.63% month on month, overseas revenue for the other two publishers declined noticeably. INTSIG INFORMATION CO., LTD. (SH:688615) continued its stable upward trend of recent months, with overseas revenue returning to the peak range seen at the beginning of the year. Its text-scanning and recognition apps, led by CamScanner, maintained stable subscription and feature-payment demand overseas, supporting the publisher's steady revenue performance and ranking.

MoboReels' AI Short Dramas Go Viral in the United States

In the middle of the rankings, Fread Technology delivered a particularly strong revenue performance last month. Its overseas short-drama app MoboReels, known in China as Fread Hot Dramas, released the emotional AI short drama Came Back Hotter With Lord's Twins last month. It became a major hit in Tier-1 markets led by the United States. Together with continuous episode releases and viewing-experience optimization through version updates, this drove estimated overseas revenue up more than 63.9% month on month, back above the $2 million mark and to a new monthly high for the year. Its online-literature products MoboReader and BestNovel also recorded modest growth, jointly driving Fread Technology's overseas revenue up more than 21.1% in August.

rednote Reaches a Revenue Peak Around Qixi Festival

Following close behind, Xingyin Information Technology's overseas revenue rose more than 11.9% month on month in August, returning it to No. 12. Its lifestyle social app rednote saw a clear rise in its August revenue curve around the Qixi Festival, with daily revenue fluctuating particularly visibly in major markets including the United States and Taiwan, China. Its cross-border e-commerce project Redshop continued its early traffic operations during the month. The concentrated rise in demand for Chinese-style gifts, couples' consumption, and traditional-culture content during the holiday period may have effectively driven conversion. A Bundesliga livestreaming event launched at the end of the month further extended community momentum and drove subscription growth, helping reverse the revenue decline that had persisted since the second quarter.

HelloTalk's Monthly Revenue Nears $1 Million

HelloTalk, also in the middle of the rankings, continued its monthslong upward revenue trend. Overseas revenue rose more than 13.6% month on month, bringing estimated monthly revenue close to $1 million and setting a new high for the year. Nearly all of its revenue came from the eponymous language-learning app HelloTalk. During the year, updates to AI translation, real-time captions, speech recognition, and speaking assistance were gradually integrated into live communication scenarios, jointly supporting continued revenue growth. In its August update, the product further optimized its language-partner matching mechanism. A more intelligent matching system effectively increased the frequency of cross-language communication, driving purchases of VIP subscriptions and value-added features.

At the bottom of the rankings, Guangzhou Guangcone Technology appeared for the first time this year. Its video and photo editing products PrettyUp and Motion Ninja maintained stable overseas performance, becoming the foundation for a steady improvement in its ranking. Other publishers whose rankings improved last month included Hangzhou Yingxiao Technology Co., Ltd., Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Appxy, Dahua Technology (SZ:002236), and VeePro.

Top 30 Chinese Game Publishers by Overseas Revenue in August

As August progressed, summer momentum continued. Anniversary celebrations, version updates, seasonal events, and new launches remained important catalysts for changes in game publishers' overseas revenue. Compared with the non-gaming rankings, game-publisher rankings continued to fluctuate more visibly, and the revenue gap between leading and mid-tier publishers widened further.

Leading Merge Titles Reach Record Revenue

At the top of the rankings, the leading advantages of the top four publishers remained pronounced. Century Games (SZ:002602) continued to lead. Its food-themed merge-casual title Tasty Travels reached another historical revenue high in August. Combined with the stable performance of two other flagship SLG titles, this helped reverse the publisher's overseas revenue decline, with revenue rising more than 7.2% month on month.

Lemon Games' overseas revenue rose more than 6.7% month on month in August, keeping it firmly in second place. Its merge-casual title Gossip Harbor®: Merge & Story celebrated its fourth anniversary in August. Content launched around the anniversary—including login rewards, an anniversary wheel, and the '10-Stage Knockout (Jellyfish Jam)'—combined benefits, story, and competitive gameplay, extending the participation cycle and triggering a concentrated surge in player activity and payment demand. Estimated monthly overseas revenue surpassed $86.09 million, a historical high. Together with the stable growth of the restaurant-themed new title Flambé®: Merge and Cook, this formed the main driver of the publisher's sharp overseas revenue increase this month.

Clash of Critters Opens an Incremental Growth Window in Japan

Lilith Games ranked among the leading publishers in August, with overseas revenue increasing more than 22.2% month on month. Its new title Clash of Critters scaled rapidly after launching in Japan at the end of July, becoming the main driver of revenue growth this month. At the beginning of August, it ranked near the top of Japan's App Store free role-playing game chart for several consecutive days and quickly entered the category's Top 10 bestseller chart. Japan accounted for more than 27% of its overseas revenue in August, driving monthly revenue up more than 55.6% month on month. At the same time, AFK Journey benefited from the new hero Rolan released at the beginning of the month and the collaboration with Digimon Adventure that began on August 18, pushing overseas revenue up more than 57.4% month on month. Together, the two titles supported Lilith Games' overseas revenue growth in August and helped it retain a leading ranking.

Mid-Tier Publishers Face Clear Pressure

As the siphoning effect of leading products intensified and summer competition grew more intense, publishers in the middle and lower parts of the rankings faced more obvious pressure. Many recorded varying degrees of decline in overseas revenue in August. Nevertheless, Maboss Games and Happy Elements achieved counter-trend growth in an otherwise pressured market, with overseas revenue rising more than 6.4% and 11.5% month on month, respectively. Happy Elements' idol-development title Helios Rising Heroes celebrated its sixth anniversary at the beginning of the month. Offline commemorative events, an Animate anniversary exhibition, and related merchandise campaigns around the anniversary drove monthly revenue up more than 133.6%, becoming the main reason its publisher ranking rose against the trend.

An IP Breakout Helps a Publisher Enter the Rankings for the First Time This Year

Kingnet Network Co., Ltd. (SZ:002517) released Yulgang: Next (열혈강호: 넥스트), an adaptation with the same name as the classic comic IP, in South Korea at the end of July. This month, it quickly opened the market by leveraging the local recognition accumulated by the classic wuxia IP and rapidly scaled on the revenue side. Promotion further expanded exposure through Korean celebrity endorsements, music content, YouTube partnerships, and sustained paid acquisition. New jobs, team dungeons, and full-moon events launched in late August helped carry forward the launch momentum and drove rapid revenue growth. According to Diandian Data's August global new-game rankings, the title generated more than $8.85 million in estimated first-month revenue, helping its publisher enter the rankings for the first time this year.

Other publishers with notable ranking growth last month included Happibits, IGG (HK:00799), Magic Tavern, Zeroo Gravity, and Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI).