China’s Minidramas Make Big Splash

China’s Minidramas Make Big Splash with $6bn-plus market. Demand for fast-paced, bite-size content fuels burgeoning industry

Recently, a new innovation has captivated the Chinese market and has started to solidify its presence abroad: microdramas. Also known as minidramas or vertical dramas, these “mobile soap operas” are emerging as a major new entertainment format, which have proliferated on such platforms as Douyin.

Most of the top apps release a new series each week, and each series has 70-150 episodes that are 1-3 minutes long — essentially the length of a feature film in total. The first 10-20 episodes are free and are routinely published to platforms like TikTok to acquire users. After that, users must unlock the next episodes by watching ads or paying for them through virtual coins.

In China, the microdrama market was estimated at 38B RMB ($5.3B) in 2023, meaning it is already 70% as large as the country’s century-old film industry, The market for these minidramas is seen reaching 48.4 billion yuan ($6.64 billion) in2024, and iResearch forecasts it doubling between 2024 and 2028.

Minidramas runs just a few minutes per episode continue to gain in popularity in China, with the market on track to grow 35% this year alone, supporting the rise of a broader industry to feed the growing demand.

The Microdrama Revenue Model

Each microdrama app relies on a wide gamut of monetization strategies, with many similarities to mobile games. Invariably, there is a simple virtual economy with a single currency, and though some apps cosmetically differentiate between “bonus” coins and regular coins, they have the same purchasing power. Coins can be obtained from in-app stores via IAP, rewarded video, or completing offer wall tasks. Both the rewarded video and offer walls regularly promote mobile games.

There are also light gamification elements: check-in streaks reward users with coins, and watching an ad after claiming a streak can double the coins received. In-app pop-up dialogs and push notifications also encourage engagement in the virtual economy.