Chinese app piracy: Why it exists and what you can do about it

Chinese piracy is infamous. Whether it’s a Louis Vuitton knockoff bag, a smartphone that looks strikingly similar to the latest iPhone, or a $2 Chinese-dubbed Jurassic World DVD, you can find a replica of almost any physical or digital good in China. With mobile games, this is certainly no exception!  But what does app piracy look like and how do you deal with it? Let’s dive in.

Why is there so much piracy in China?

Simply put, Chinese culture views piracy through a completely different lens than most of the West, as learning and doing through replication have been pillars of education ever since the times of Confucius. Duplication just isn’t seen as infringing on the rights of others.

There are two main reasons behind mobile game piracy in China:

1. Inability to access Western games
   As Google Play is nearly inaccessible in China, authentic Android versions of Western apps are hard to come by.
2. High demand for games in Chinese
   Most of China’s population cannot read foreign languages (less than 1% speak English) and because there are many high-quality Chinese-made games, those unavailable in Chinese have a fundamental disadvantage to local games. The majority of foreign content will only compete with Chinese games if specifically tailored for the local market.

Mobile apps are pirated through reverse engineering or copycatting from scratch. Some Chinese apps stores even pull game APKs from Google Play and publish an incomplete, but playable, replica on their own stores.

What does this look like?

This level of app piracy means that pirated games are readily available on China’s app stores, both on Android and, surprisingly enough, iOS. Often, app stores have multiple pirated versions of a popular game up at the same time, coming from different developers who copied the same original code.

Many studios are shocked to see blatant copycats of their games available on dozens of app stores and with millions of downloads.  As of the time of writing this, for example, by checking just 5 app stores, we can see more than 18 million downloads of unofficial versions of NBA2k14!

What can you do about app piracy in China?

Be Preventive

Measures can be taken to prevent falling victim to piracy. Pirates usually become widespread within a few weeks of a Google Play launch, so by timing a Google Play launch in conjunction with a release of a localized game across China’s top Android stores, you can have the first-mover advantage over potential copycats, both in terms of userbase and standings with app stores.

Furthermore, some developers are working on security solutions that can be integrated with a product before its launch in order to deter copycatters and hackers.

Be Reactive 

App stores are generally unwilling to take an app down, regardless of legitimacy, as long as their competitors also have it up. However, if you supply Chinese app stores with your official localized version, you can replace pirates, taking over their userbase, which is exactly what Oniix did with Tap Titans.