氪金

kèjīn

verb

Meanings

1 to spend money on in-app purchases
2 to pay to win (in games)
3 to spend real money on virtual items

Characters

krypton (chemical element)

From the Japanese loanword 課金 (kakin, 'billing/charging'). Chinese netizens adopted it using the homophone 氪 (krypton) for 课 (lesson/charge).

Examples

他在这个游戏里氪了好几千。

Tā zài zhège yóuxì lǐ kè le hǎo jǐ qiān.

He spent several thousand on in-app purchases for this game.

这个游戏不氪金也能玩。

Zhège yóuxì bù kèjīn yě néng wán.

You can play this game without spending money.

Tips

culture

Core gaming slang. '氪金玩家' (paying player) vs '免费玩家' (free player) is a fundamental divide in Chinese mobile gaming culture. '重氪' means heavy spending, '微氪' means light spending.

memory

Krypton (氪) weakened Superman — spending money (氪金) weakens your wallet. Both are dangerous in large amounts.

Stroke Order

氪 kè

金 jīn