Directing their video careers

Gaming culture

By introducing video games to social media platforms, 31-year-old Zhang Jun, better known as Xiaoyao Sanren online, enjoys expressing himself and spreading Chinese culture.

Now a popular content creator on Bilibili boasting 5.4 million followers, Zhang uploaded his first commentary video of the computer game, I Wanna Be the Magnanimity, in 2011 while studying in the United States. Later, he spent more than four months completing the game and released 18 related videos, which collectively received more than 180,000 clicks. He soon became popular on the platform.

"When studying overseas, I felt the cultural differences of the East and the West, which made me more interested in the news and situation in China," Zhang says, adding that he believes many aspects of our life and society in the country have been "greatly improved", while some are even "better than abroad".

He came back to China after graduation and became a full-time content creator on Bilibili specializing in video games. His overseas experiences made him more aware of introducing Chinese culture to foreign friends through gaming.

The first time he realized that gaming can convey culture was when he found a video he made about a Japanese game, which he dubbed into Chinese, being circulated among many foreigners online.

"Most of our games are dubbed into English or Japanese, including some mobile games, but several years ago, I dubbed a Japanese video game named Ace Attorney and played every character's dialogue in Chinese," he recalls, adding that the video later spread to many countries and received great attention.

"When foreign viewers saw it, they found that my dubbing made the original game more emotional and interesting, although they understand little Chinese.

"This video made me realize that we have a lot of great content, but we haven't taken it abroad, so people can't see how good it is," he adds.

The development of some domestic games has reached a high level, Zhang says, adding that at least two or three games in the top 10 mobile game app rankings in Japan are from China now.

He cites another example, Chinese Parents, an education simulation game developed by a Chinese game producer, which, although a niche indie game, has become widely known by many foreigners thanks to the publicity and promotion efforts of various content producers.

"Through this game, international players learned that the way Chinese parents educate their children is different from that in the US," Zhang says, adding that "a US version of the game, Growing Up, was later released", produced by Polish game producer Vile Monarch in October.

Many foreigners may not understand the myths of China, "but they deem the Chinese game as fun and want to try it", Zhang says, speaking of a domestically produced game, Black Myth: Wukong, the trailer of which went viral, creating demand for the title abroad even before its official launch at home. Similarly, many other domestic indie games are mining folk customs or crafts, such as paper-cutting, to appeal to gamers.

According to another short-video creator Zhu Minghua, known as Zimin, who has worked in the sector for a decade and boasts over 3.24 million followers on Bilibili and a further 293,000 on YouTube, young people across the globe, who are enjoying a good material life, like to click and forward videos that can bring them closer, however distant they may be physically.

Chinese young people have become more confident in telling their stories, "because there are so many we can talk about", he adds.