Last Updated on April 16, 2026
Among the segments driving growth in the Chinese video gaming market is China’s $445 million e-sports business sector.
Today, the industry is further empowered by the prevalence of live-streaming platforms in China. In fact, these apps account for 18.6% of the country’s overall online gaming population.
With their massive audience reach and real-time user engagement, tapping into popular esports livestream platforms in China offers foreign brands an opportunity to drive sales and increase local visibility. Here are some insights from our team that may help you maximize these channels.
What are the Most Popular Esports Livestream Platforms in China Today?
1. Huya (虎牙直播)
Huya has long been the largest streaming platform among China’s esports apps. In its latest market report, the company recorded 162 million monthly active users for the second quarter of 2025.
This sheer volume of viewers makes Huya indispensable to any game publisher’s digital marketing strategy in China. It has also positioned itself as the “home of esports,” with its live stream events often covering major esports titles, including League of Legends (LoL), Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, and Dota 2.
Huya Live Mobile Landing Pages
Huya Live’s influence in China’s online gaming industry is undeniable, primarily because the game-streaming app is deeply integrated into the local esports ecosystem. It holds broadcast rights to the renowned Honor of Kings Streamers League and League of Legends Pro League (LPL) from 2021 to 2025.
Advertising and Brand Opportunities on Huya
Huya’s community-centric live-streaming format makes it perfect for brand integration, user engagement campaigns, and sponsorships. Businesses can place ads directly in streams or collaborate with well-known game streamers to further expand their audience reach.
Popular videos on Huya Live with millions of views (Source: Huya)
Beyond the typical ad placements and sponsorships, Huya offers digital gifting, allowing viewers to purchase and send gifts to their favorite streamers. Local game developers have increasingly tied these gifting features to in-game rewards to increase player engagement.
For example, during a campaign for Peacekeeper Elite, Huya ran a special promotion in which viewers who gifted streamers during the event could receive exclusive in-game items (e.g., character skins and weapon designs).
This strategy resulted in an uptick in in-game purchases and live stream viewership, demonstrating how seamlessly game-streaming platforms like Huya can support a local game launch.
2. DouYu (斗鱼)
Another well-known platform among the most popular esports streaming apps in China is DouYu Live. It has 36.4 million mobile monthly active users according to the report from the second quarter of 2025. Among these consumers are 2.8 million paying users who actively purchase in-app services.
Like other leading esports live-stream platforms, it covers a diverse range of competitive games and tournaments. The app even secured the exclusive rights to broadcast the ESL Pro Tour for games such as:
- CS:GO
- StarCraft II
- Warcraft III
The platform’s diversity in content allows game developers and brands to target specific gaming communities based on the type of content they consume.
Advertising and Brand Opportunities on Douyu
Thanks to its connection with Tencent, Douyu easily integrates with popular Tencent services, such as WeChat and QQ. This enables users to easily share streams across these platforms, thereby increasing visibility for both streamers and brands.
This integration gives Douyu a distinct advantage over other popular esports streaming apps in China, as it has more access to Tencent’s advertising ecosystem.
Beyond that, it’s also a popular platform for brand collaborations, having worked with over 400 brands, including major companies like KFC, Intel, JD.com, and Ford. These collaborations often include QR code displays during live streams, which allow viewers to scan and engage with promotional content in real time.
Esports Tournaments and Events happening on Douyu Live (Source: Douyu Website)
Complying with content regulations is essential when using platforms like Douyu to avoid violating platform rules or triggering users. Instead of overly direct advertisements, companies should focus on soft marketing techniques and encouraging user-generated content.
Brands should demonstrate how their product seamlessly integrates into a user’s lifestyle or gaming setup rather than relying on the usual unboxing videos.
3. Douyin (抖音)
As one of China’s most popular video streaming apps, it’s a no-brainer that Douyin’s official number of esports viewership exceeds its main competitors. The platform’s main advantage lies in its 766 million monthly active users.
For game-related brands, this broad reach translates into greater visibility and engagement opportunities. Douyin also features AI-driven recommendation algorithms that connect any gaming content to highly relevant audiences within the platform.
Game live streams on Douyin
One example of Douyin’s growing impact in the local gaming industry is its broadcast rights for Honor of Kings. This partnership resumed in 2024 after being banned in 2016 due to a copyright infringement dispute between Tencent and ByteDance.
After its re-launch on Douyin, Tencent’s Honor of Kings capitalized on Douyin’s massive reach by hosting game-themed activities and influencer-driven real-time video content.
Source: Sixth Tone
Advertising and Brand Opportunities on Douyin
Douyin’s hybrid model of short-form video, AI-driven recommendations, and integrated livestreaming gives it a distinct edge compared with traditional esports platforms such as Douyu and Huya. Its format keeps audiences engaged while also offering seamless shopping and download options directly within the app.
For gaming brands, this means:
- Engagement to Sales: Douyin integrates shopping features directly into live broadcasts. A streamer promoting a new game title or peripheral can generate immediate downloads or purchases within the same session, reducing the gap between awareness and conversion.
- Broader Reach: Unlike niche esports platforms, Douyin connects esports content to mainstream entertainment, thereby expanding its reach.
- Cross-format Branding: Event highlights, memes, fan reactions, and short behind-the-scenes clips can circulate widely on Douyin, giving brands multiple entry points into the conversation.
4. Kuaishou (快手)
Over 89% of Kuaishou’s users actively engage with live-stream content on the platform. This statistic positions the app as a strong industry player in the gaming and esports sectors.
Unlike Douyin or Douyu, which primarily target affluent urban populations, Kuaishou is deeply embedded in the lives of users from smaller cities and rural areas. These low-tier city consumers tend to have higher engagement rates, and its focus on grassroots content helps it resonate deeply with this demographic.
Current Esports Events Hosted in Kuaishou
Kuaishou has also been increasingly involved in esports. In 2024, the platform became the strategic partner for the Saudi Arabia E-Sports World Cup. The partnership includes live broadcasts of the games, marketing highlights, short videos, and player stories to attract more Chinese users to the event.
Advertising and Brand Opportunities on Kuaishou
One of Kuaishou’s biggest advantages for game live streaming is its innovative “live streaming + short video” model. Thanks to this feature, creators can repackage live streams into short-form content that can be shared and consumed more efficiently.
Users can create highlights, post-match interviews, commentary, and behind-the-scenes content, all of which drive engagement after the live event. For game developers and brands, this means their content gets extended exposure long after the live stream is over.
Kuaishou also supports native e-commerce integration, though it is generally less commerce-heavy than Douyin. That said, game developers and peripheral brands (like headsets, keyboards, or even mobile devices) can still benefit from:
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In-stream product placements
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Co-branded livestream events
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Interactive challenges tied to downloads or purchases
5. Bilibili (哔哩哔哩)
Another prominent name among popular esports streaming apps in China is Bilibili. It has 340 million monthly active users (as of Q1 2025), who are predominantly passionate about anime, gaming, entertainment, and comics.
The platform also typically secures streaming rights to major esports events. One of the most notable partnerships is with Riot Games. Bilibili entered a three-year contract with the gaming giant for the rights to broadcast the League of Legends World Championship in 2020.
As Bilibili’s esports division grows, the platform has also started actively investing in professional teams and players, such as Bilibili Gaming (BLG).
Beyond esports, mobile gaming is another area where Bilibili shines. Azur Lane and Fate/Grand Order are two examples that have found massive success through the platform’s exclusive distribution in China.
These games, part of the ACG (Anime, Comic, and Gaming) genre, gained popularity through Bilibili’s active fan-driven content ecosystem. Fans share gameplay reviews, fan art, and strategy discussions, which helps build a stronger community around the games and keeps players engaged.
Advertising and Brand Opportunities on Bilibili
Compared with Douyin or Huya, Bilibili delivers longer viewing times and highly dedicated fandoms. The average esports viewer here is not just a passive spectator. They are invested in the culture, teams, and narratives. For advertisers, this means better access to:
- Streamer Partnerships: Many esports influencers on Bilibili have cult followings. Collaborating with them for product placements, unboxings, or co-hosted events can drive credibility among gaming audiences.
- Gamified Campaigns: Bilibili supports fan tasks, quests, and reward systems where brands can sponsor challenges related to esports matches or team fandom.
- Higher Trust Levels: Ad campaigns feel less intrusive when tied to community-centric activities happening within Bilibili.
How Popular is Online Game Live Streaming in China?
There are over 175 million daily active users of popular esports live-streaming platforms in China, specifically from Huya, DouYu, and Bilibili. Based on the recent data sources, consumers on these apps spent a total of 19.33 million hours watching live gaming content.
Among everything else, esports has the most significant impact on the continued popularity of game streaming in China, given that it serves a dedicated audience of 266 million users in the country.
As esports fans continue to patronize China’s top online games and professional teams, experts predict that the game streaming industry will generate $2.92 billion in earnings by the end of 2025.
Each live-streaming platform for esports has built a massive, loyal user base and caters to a slightly different demographic and niche. They provide access to a predominantly young, tech-savvy market, primarily between the ages of 18 and 35.
How Can Foreign Brands Promote on China’s Popular Esports Streaming Apps?
● Engage in KOL/KOC Collaborations
Popular esports streaming apps in China are the best place to find gaming KOLs. With millions of monthly active users, each platform hosts numerous gaming influencers, including professional players, popular streamers, and gaming commentators.
An excellent example of a successful KOL collaboration in China’s gaming space is Riftstorm’s social media campaign, which our team executed and managed. The brand partnered with top gaming influencers on local social media platforms, where they streamed the gameplay for two to three hours.
KOL Live-streaming Campaigns for Riftstorm
The live-stream campaigns ran on the Bilibili platform from March 12th to 14th. On March 13th, Riftstorm received the highest one-day engagement rate from its collaboration with two gaming KOLs. The videos garnered decent traffic, with more than 19,000 viewers, 24,000 likes, and 4,200 comments.
They also received specific game feedback from live-stream viewers, which will help them acquire more users in the long run. Some comments ask if the game content is in simplified Chinese. Others wish it had more in-game maps referencing the local culture.
It’ll also provide developers with localization insights into which game segments need improvement. This feedback is important if they want to attract more Chinese gamers to continue patronizing their titles.
● Localize Content for the Chinese Audiences
Foreign brands must adopt a localization-first mindset to succeed in the Chinese online video market. Simply replicating global campaigns won’t suffice. Why? Because the success hinges on your understanding of Chinese gamer behaviors, cultural nuances, and slang within gaming communities.
This means crafting content that resonates with local tastes, humor, and even the platform-specific words gamers use in streams and chats.
Brands looking to break into this space should strategically align themselves with top-performing games, such as Tencent’s Honor of Kings.
Marketers can create targeted content or sponsor streamers and tournaments to deliver marketing efforts that feel relevant to Chinese gaming culture.
● Esports Tournament Sponsorships
Sponsoring high-profile esports tournaments is another effective way to enter the Chinese market.
Major events, such as the League of Legends World Championship or the Honor of Kings World Champion Cup, draw millions of live viewers. Many of these audiences are young, tech-savvy, and more likely to engage with brands integrated into these events.
By sponsoring these tournaments, foreign brands can gain premium visibility in front of highly engaged audiences. This increases brand exposure and helps brands gain credibility and trust by associating with popular, culturally significant events.
Honor of Kings Tournament (Source: Esports World Cup)
● Interactive Advertising and Gamified Campaigns
Esports streaming apps in China offer unique advertising formats beyond traditional banner ads. Foreign marketers can integrate ads during live streams, delivering interactive content such as clickable banners, real-time promotions, or in-stream mini-games.
Take advantage of the gift-giving systems, which allow viewers to send virtual gifts to streamers. A foreign brand could sponsor virtual gifts tied to their products, incentivizing users to interact with the brand.
Gamified campaigns that resonate with the target audience are also effective. Brands can host tournaments, sponsor in-stream competitions, or create branded challenges that allow viewers to win prizes. This presents an opportunity to engage directly with gamers while increasing brand visibility.
Quick Q&A
What is the biggest gaming streaming platform in China?
Huya is currently the largest gaming platform in China. Along with Douyu, it accounts for around 80% of the market.
What is the equivalent of Twitch in China?
Huya and Douyu are the closest equivalents to Twitch in China. They offer similar features, such as live game streaming, real-time audience interaction, and esports broadcasts.
What are the most popular esports livestream platforms in China?
The top platforms today are DouYu, Huya, and Bilibili Live, each specializing in esports content and commanding massive, engaged audiences. Douyin and Kuaishou also continue to gain ground, especially for short‑clip highlights and mobile‑friendly streaming.
Can foreign brands use Chinese livestream platforms?
Yes. Foreign brands can tap into these platforms, primarily through partnerships with KOLs and KOCs for product demos and in-depth reviews. Many brands successfully ran campaigns on Douyin, DouYu, and Huya, often working with local partners and adhering to Chinese advertising regulations.
Your Trusted Game Marketing Partner in the Chinese Market
China’s esports streaming ecosystem is rapidly growing and evolving, brimming with opportunities for foreign brands. However, success depends on a deep understanding of the local audience, leveraging the platforms’ unique interactive features, and building authentic relationships with influencers and esports communities.
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At Sekkei Digital Group, we understand the changing behaviors of Chinese consumers and local digital ecosystems. With our team’s extensive industry experience and expertise, we can help your brand unlock its enormous potential in one of the world’s largest esports markets.
Whether you’re looking for a gaming KOL or launching paid advertisement campaigns, we have all the digital solutions you need. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can begin working together.
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