Steam is helping indies survive China’s new-game freeze

China hasn’t approved any new games for release since March 28. That’s slowing down the growth of country’s biggest publisher, Tencent, and just about every other gaming company in the region. But that doesn’t mean no new games are finding their way into that massive market.

Chinese gamers are on pace to spend $37.9 billion on their hobby this year. So consumer-side demand hasn’t withered. With that much money on the line, developers are taking advantage of alternative methods like Steam to reach players.