For a country that did not even allow the sale of home game consoles until very recently, China has exploded onto the video game market much like it has in several other industries, and according to research firm Newzoo BV, the country has surpassed the U.S. as the world leader in game revenue for the first time ever.

Newzoo has released its list of top 100 countries by game revenues, and China pulled slightly ahead of the U.S. with roughly $22.2 billion in game revenue. The U.S. brought in just over $21.9 billion, which is itself more than the next three top countries combined. Together, China and the U.S. represent nearly half of the more than $91 billion in revenue earned by the worldwide game industry for the year so far.

Unsurprisingly, Newzoo’s list of highest earning game companies is also led by a Chinese corporation, Tencent Holdings Ltd, which owns stakes in multiple other game companies, including League of Legends developer Riot Games, publishing giant Activision Blizzard Inc, and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games.

While China currently leads the pack, it is not the only Asian country with solid game revenues. Both Japan and South Korea are the third and fourth highest earnings countries, respectively, and Southeast Asia is currently showing a lot of potential.

“Thailand remains Southeast Asia’s biggest earner,” Newzoo said. “Thai revenues will reach $338 million in 2015, up +42.2 [percent] from the previous year, making Thailand the 23rd largest games market in the world. Hot on Thailand’s trail, Indonesia will gain six ranks this year to take position 24 and generate $313 million in revenues, an astounding increase of +52 percent on 2014. With explosive growth rates like these, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a Southeast Asian country break into the top 20 in 2016.”

While Asia has some of the best growth potential for game companies, other regions are still performing strongly. Half of the top 10 countries are in Western Europe, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy (in that order).

Photo by hbieser (Pixabay)