A quarter of Steam games score 10+ points lower with Chinese players

Steam shows one review score, but it also lets you filter by language. I pulled the English and Simplified Chinese scores for 124 games that have at least 100 reviews in each language.

What I found

• 33 of 124 games (27%) score 10 or more points lower with Chinese players than with English-speaking ones.
• The biggest gaps are not small games: Helldivers 2 (80% positive in English, 32% in Chinese), Monster Hunter Wilds (68% and 21%), Escape from Tarkov (63% and 24%), Battlefield 6 (67% and 36%).
• The usual reasons in the Chinese reviews: server and connection problems in the region, translation quality, pricing, and account or region decisions. Rarely the game design itself.
• The big hits mostly have no gap at all.

Why most studios never see it

Nobody on the team filters reviews by language. Those players already bought the game, and they are saying exactly what is wrong, in public, in a language the team cannot read.

Check your own game in two minutes

1. Open your Steam reviews.
2. Set Language to Simplified Chinese.
3. Compare the percentage with English.
4. Read the ten most helpful negative reviews through a translator.

Steam isn't the only place Chinese players score your game. Most also check Xiaoheihe (HeyBox) before buying; see where else Chinese players rate and discuss games.

Data: public Steam review data collected on 1 October 2026 for the games tracked on ChineseDLC.com Pulse. The numbers change every week; the live figures are on Pulse.