China’s biggest anime video site Bilibili previews two games on Steam

Bilibili, China’s biggest site for anime videos and content, is releasing two games on Steam — the first time it will publish games outside China.

The Con Simulator lets you play as an organizer of a comic con — while INVAXION is a music-themed game where players “head into an interstellar journey […] while fighting back with the Artificial Intelligence to save the day”. Both will be officially released in the last quarter of this year.

Bilibili, which has 85 million monthly active users, has gathered a loyal following from Chinese fans of ACG (anime, comics and games) for its massive trove of user-uploaded Japanese anime. It’s also famous for introducing the “bullet screen” culture in China, which splashes viewer comments across the screen as the video plays.

Even though it’s mainly a video site, 77% of Bilibili’s revenue actually comes from gaming. Most of the games it distributes are developed by other studios, including the two upcoming ones on Steam.

Bilibili isn’t nearly as big as Chinese gaming giants Tencent and NetEase. Still, it has carved out a niche for itself by focusing on anime games.

So far, the biggest hit the company has published in China is the role-playing mobile game Fate/Grand Order, which originated from the popular Japanese anime collective, the Fate series. Last year, Chinese players spent 1.5 billion yuan (US$220 million) on the game, and Bilibili says it accounted for a big part of the company’s gaming revenue increase.

And soon, gamers and esports fans could see more from Nasdaq-listed Bilibili. It announced it will continue operating Fate/Grand Order in China, and has launched an esports team named BLG to compete in the League of Legends Pro League. Just last week, it also announced it’s joining the Overwatch League for the 2019 season after acquiring a team.