The makers of Chinese video games are looking to take advantage of the ‘pink economy’ by creating more LGBTI content.

The pink economy is estimated to be worth about $300 billion annually as Chinese society becomes more accepting of LGBTI people.

China is the third largest LGBTI consumer market in the world behind the United States and Europe.

Gay games

Beijing based video game designer Zhu Qiming has always wanted to make an LGBTI friendly game.

He is developing ‘Rainbow Town’ which is a life simulation game for smartphones. In the game users dress up their avatars in stylish clothes and interact with other online users.

‘LGBT people are gradually being accepted by the public — a few years ago the market would not be ready for a gay game,’ Zhu told Motherboard.

‘I see strong demand going unfulfilled, and that provides us with ‘pink’ opportunities.’

Zhu hopes his game will help raise the visibility and progress of China’s LGBTI community. He also hopes Rainbow Town will also help people to meet other LGBTI people and be an outlet for people who are not out of the closet.

‘With rising social tolerance, people in the LGBT community have begun to demonstrate their identity and meet other members of the community through a range of social activities, including games,’ he told China Daily.

‘I’ve always wanted to do something for gay people.

‘A purpose of this game is to let people do things they might not be able to do in real life, such as dress however they want to and just be themselves.’

Geng Le is the founder and CEO of social app BlueD which is more popular than Grindr in China.

‘The consumer power of the gay community is robust, but it has always been neglected,’ he told Fortune.

‘We want to tell people that the pink economy is very strong.

‘The whole society is moving forward, it’s becoming more accepting, more diverse, and individual value is more emphasized.’