Revenue from computer games has exceeded US$100 billion globally in a single year for the first time, with China overtaking the US as games capital of the world.

A report by London-based venture capital firm Atomico found 600 million gamers in China generated $24.6 billion of the industry’s $101.1 billion global market value in 2016, just ahead of the US’s $24.1 billion.

Apple’s mobile apps store appears to be a major contributing factor to the rapid games growth in China.

China accounted for 31 percent of the total $18 billion generated by games on iOS compared with just 3 percent in 2012. Atomico was surprised to find the average revenue per user is higher in China than the US.

The number of gamers is rising in Europe and the US with the global games industry expected to generate an estimated $109 billion in 2017, rising to $129 billion by 2020.