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3w ago

China’s Micro-Drama Revenue to Overtake Box Office in 2025, MPA Says

An MPA report credits platform integration with AI-driven workflows for the format’s rapid scale.

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In one of DramaBox's top performing titles, Lucy, adopted by a werewolf family, is forced into an arranged marriage.

Overview

  • MPA estimates China’s micro-drama take will exceed roughly $9.4 billion in 2025 and projects $16.2 billion by 2030 after rising from $500 million in 2021 to $7 billion in 2024.
  • More than 830 million people in China watch micro-dramas, with nearly 60% paying or transacting, supported by IP pipelines from web-novel platforms.
  • ByteDance’s Red Fruit, Tencent’s WeChat Video Accounts and Kuaishou’s Xi Fan anchor China’s market through dedicated apps integrated with social features and payments.
  • Outside China, revenues totaled $1.4 billion in 2024 and are forecast by MPA to reach $9.5 billion by 2030, with the U.S. leading at $819 million in 2024 and a separate Owl & Co. analysis pegging 2025 at $1.3 billion in the U.S. and $3 billion globally ex-China.
  • MPA forecasts a split in monetization by 2030, with China leaning to advertising at 56% versus subscription and in‑app purchases at 74% outside China, as premium S‑class projects and AI-enabled localization and discovery expand.