Microdrama has been growing even further, both as a form of content and a marketing tool, proving that short-form web series is far from a fad. It also remained strong after stricter regulations. Some pundits even went as far as calling 2024 the beginning of an 2.0 era for microdrama.
According to data from iiMedia (艾媒咨询), the Microdrama market has reached 50.44 billion RMB (6.94 billion USD) in 2024, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 34.90%. For the first time, microdrama might be able to overtake the cinema box office. DataWin’s study found that in the first 8 months of this year, mainstream platforms released over 900 series and forecast the annual release number to reach 1,350 with a 27.5% YoY increase.
Microdrama series are usually monetised in one of two main ways: in-app purchase (IAP) and in-app advertisement (IAA). In the 1.0 era, IAP was the norm as people paid for content. However, IAA has risen from 30% of the market to 46% by August this year. Paid series face the difficulties of promoting the series and piracy. That is why in the 2.0 era of microdrama platforms are introducing exclusive series that are not “unlocked” by episodes but by subscription.
In this change from paying for specific content to paying for platform subscriptions, commentators also saw similarities between microdrama and web-based literature (mostly fiction). Web fiction also overcame the difficulty of people not willing to pay for each single piece and piracy by subscription. With platforms such as Kuaishou already betting heavily on IAA, contributing to the growth of its advertising income by 300%, advertisement might be the next drive for the now popular entertainment format (36.19% of users watch microdrama daily). As the industry begins to stabilise after the “wild west” of 2023, how it grows further and abroad, and if it will challenge traditional cinema and TV/web series is very exciting to watch in 2025.
