ByteDance, Tencent, and Kuaishou all speed up at the same time—how far is interactive content from an explosion?

A short drama reaches its climax when two options suddenly pop up on the screen: shoot, or put down the weapon. In the past, viewers could only wait for the next episode; now, they can decide the direction of the plot themselves. This kind of interactive content is being pushed in front of users by more and more platforms.

Since the beginning of this year, interactive dramas and interactive film-games have gradually become a new direction for big companies to invest in, but most of the exploration in the first half of the year was concentrated on tool development and small-scale testing, still some distance from a continuous and stable supply of content.

In the past month, the platforms' moves have clearly become more frequent. Douyin launched the Interactive Space Plaza and rolled out an interactive drama section, adapting hit AI short dramas into interactive versions while soliciting collaborative projects from external producers; Tencent's interactive content mini-program Konghu TDream began a data-wipe test, while Zaohua Workshop intensively held multiple rounds of creator competitions; Kuaishou also officially launched the "Interactive Content World." Several leading platforms have accelerated their pace almost simultaneously.

What is noteworthy is that interactive content has begun to plug into existing entry points such as short video, social networking and mini-games. Tools and works previously scattered across different products and creative communities are being gathered together by the platforms in an attempt to reach hundreds of millions of mass users.

As competition in the track suddenly escalates, the focus of competition is also quietly shifting: after users discover interactive content and try it for the first time, what will keep them playing? Entry points and creation tools have gradually been improved, but whether a stable consumption habit can be cultivated remains to be tested by the market.

Adapting hit short dramas, opening industry solicitations, ByteDance accelerates its interactive content layout

Among the several leading platforms, ByteDance's layout is relatively clear: rather than cultivating new content from scratch, it is carving out an incremental space from mature content assets.

In March this year, Fanqie Novel and Douyin began small-scale testing of AI interactive dramas. At the time, works were mainly produced by a small number of partner teams, ordinary creators lacked convenient creation tools, and users had no fixed entry point for content consumption. In July, Douyin beta-tested Interactive Space and launched the "Interactive Space Plaza" within the app. Creators could generate interactive content and then gain exposure through the plaza and short videos. Interactive content thus gained a relatively centralized display position.

Next, Douyin began supplementing both creation tools and traffic support. On September 20, Jianying launched the AI interactive film-game creation platform ICG Studio; two days later, Douyin's mini-game channel launched an interactive drama section and kicked off a special incentive program running through the end of October, investing 900,000 DOU+ traffic and covering scenarios such as interactive drama submissions, live-streamed performances and secondary editing and distribution.

With tools and entry points in place, Douyin is trying to use the traffic leverage of hit content to quickly cultivate mass users' interactive experience, giving content consumption that is mainly viewing-oriented one more way to participate.

In September, Douyin successively adapted popular AI short dramas such as "Guixu," "File Zero" and "Zombie Scavenger" into interactive versions, and promoted topics such as "Douyin lets you play interactive dramas now" within the site. Take "File Zero: Reboot" as an example: the story originally driven by serial episodes added choice nodes, and viewers can experience different plot directions based on their own choices.

Popular short dramas already have a certain audience base, and the character settings and worldview can be carried over directly. The interactive versions offer viewers a new way to experience the story and lower the threshold of acceptance. For the platform, these derivative interactive dramas that come with their own traffic also cultivate the first batch of seed users for interactive content, avoiding the operational difficulties of a cold start.

However, the number of hit works within the site is ultimately limited. On October 19, the Douyin Group Short Drama Copyright Center released the "Interactive Drama and Interactive Film-Game Cooperation Solicitation," opening up cooperation methods such as joint distribution, joint funding and joint IP development to live-action and AI content, and dividing projects into two categories: lightly interactive "interactive dramas" and more highly interactive "interactive film-games."

This means Douyin has begun to expand its supply scope from existing works within the site to external producers. The short drama industry has already accumulated a large number of production companies and distribution teams, and Douyin hopes to use these mature creative forces to bring in more works for interactive content.

From the small-scale testing in March, to the launch of the Interactive Space Plaza in July, to the concentrated rollout of creation tools, interactive sections and IP adaptations in September, and then to soliciting external projects in October, ByteDance's layout has gradually extended to multiple links including creation, distribution and content cooperation. However, whether this layout can operate successfully still depends on the acceptance of both producers and users.

For production teams, interactive dramas require designing multiple plot lines, and the cost is clearly higher than that of ordinary short dramas, while the profit model and revenue-sharing mechanism are not yet clear, so there are still concerns about sustained investment. For users, short videos and short dramas have already formed a viewing habit that requires no thinking; how many people are willing to stop and choose the plot? This is still a question that remains to be verified.

Tencent beta-tests interactive content mini-program, Kuaishou launches "Interactive Content World"

When the WeChat "Lüpaopao" short drama mini-program attracted attention across the internet, few noticed that Tencent's first content product, Konghu TDream, had also quietly begun a data-wipe test. The former concentrates scattered short drama consumption in one place, while the latter focuses on interactive content. Tencent is accelerating on two content lines at the same time.

Tencent's interactive content layout can be traced back to the first half of this year. In April, the DreamNow project was exposed; in May, Tencent launched a game-oriented AI creation tool (codename Craft), and LightSpeed Studios released Zaohua Workshop; in June, TDream appeared publicly as an AI video generation and interactive content product.

Several products correspond to different creative needs, covering multiple stages from video material generation and lightweight interactive storytelling to professional interactive film-game production. This style of "multi-point deployment and internal horse racing" is, in fact, Tencent's usual approach to new businesses.

In the months that followed, Tencent rarely made public moves. But in reality, Tencent was still pressing ahead at full speed. On one hand, it intensively held creator competitions to cultivate a creator ecosystem; on the other, it quietly connected interactive content creation tools and distribution platforms, and sought to push them to the mass market.

Recently, the Konghu TDream mini-program began internal testing. As an interactive content platform aimed at the general public, it puts AI videos, AI mini-games and creation features into the same product. Users can watch AI videos, experience mini-games, and also create content directly, and a complete closed loop from creation to distribution has quietly taken shape.

It is worth noting that a popular game now features "Reborn as I Became a Roast Duck," adapted from a hit AI video, which shows the platform's effort to break down the boundary between AI videos and AI games and attract more users to experience interactive content, echoing Douyin's approach of adapting popular AI short dramas.

If TDream targets mass creation and lightweight experiences, LightSpeed Studios' Zaohua Workshop aims at professional production teams.

Interactive film-games usually involve complex plot branches, character settings and multiple rounds of material production. As branches increase, plot management and material continuity also become more cumbersome. The positioning of Zaohua Workshop is precisely to provide production tools for such complex projects, supporting more complete narrative structures and interactive design.

On September 17, Zaohua Workshop completed an important version update, launching features such as an infinite canvas workflow, a professional interactive component library, an all-in-one editing panel and unified character outfit changes, targeting precisely the shortcomings most often criticized in interactive content creation.

Since June, Zaohua Workshop has also continued to operate a professional community through multiple rounds of creator competitions, accumulating works around themes such as mystery and deduction, rule-based horror, and rebirth and counterattack. The competitions not only provide creators with practical scenarios, but also let the tools be tested in specific projects, and accumulate a batch of works and creators for subsequent content cooperation.

From this perspective, Tencent has adopted two different approaches: TDream lowers the barrier to participation through relatively lightweight creation and experience, while Zaohua Workshop targets professional teams and solves the production problems of complex interactive film-games. The former helps expand content supply, while the latter focuses on improving production capability, with the two routes corresponding to different creators and content needs.

By contrast, Kuaishou solves another problem: after works are made, where do users find them?

According to Dujia reports, the Kuaishou App recently officially launched the "Kuaishou Interactive Content World" mini-program. Users can enter via search or access it quickly from the sidebar, and tap a work to experience it. Light interactive works previously scattered in short-video mounted links now have a centralized display location.

Judging from the existing content, "Interactive Content World" is not limited to interactive dramas. "Odyssey: Choice" focuses on AI interactive narrative, "The Angler Never Goes Home Empty" leans toward simulation and nurturing, and "Marble Challenge" is a light casual game. Plot choices, simulation management and instant mini-games are placed in the same entrance, and what Kuaishou clearly hopes to capture is not just interactive dramas, but a broader range of lightweight interactive experiences.

Some of these works adopt the Vibe Coding creation method: creators describe the gameplay in natural language, then use AI to generate code, debug and iterate, and finally complete a runnable work. Mini-games that previously required some development ability to try can now be independently made by individual creators. This is somewhat consistent with Kuaishou's long-emphasized inclusive creation ecosystem.

Previously, Kuaishou had already opened recruitment for AI interactive content creators, covering directions such as interactive plots, AI character dialogue and lightweight interactive applications. From recruiting creators to launching an independent mini-program, Kuaishou's interactive content layout has moved past preliminary preparation and begun to face testing by mass users.

Tencent covers mass creation and professional film-games through different tools, while Kuaishou first provides a unified entrance for scattered light interactive works. The two have chosen different entry points, but both are trying to fill the gap between creation and consumption. Next, whether the tools can continuously produce attractive works and whether the entrance can bring lasting traffic are the parts more worth observing.

As content platforms all enter the field, are users ready?

Since the beginning of this year, exploration of interactive content has not been limited to ByteDance, Tencent and Kuaishou. Bilibili, Xiaohongshu and video platforms are also trying different entry approaches. Their resource advantages differ, but none can avoid one question: where do the first batch of users for interactive works come from?

Content platforms tend to distribute through their existing community ecosystems. Bilibili launched the interactive content platform Toy, where creators can make and publish mini-games, personality tests, interactive stories and other works, and embed them in videos, feeds and other scenarios. According to relevant reports, as of September, Toy's cumulative experience count had exceeded 29.56 million.

Xiaohongshu, meanwhile, is testing lightweight applications and interactive works through its "small tools" section, where users can enter and experience directly from notes. In the recently popular Vibe knowledge trend, Xiaohongshu is also trying to bridge the boundary between AI videos and interactive experiences.

Long-video platforms, by contrast, focus more on mature IP. Youku supports interactive film-games and interactive short dramas through programs such as "Yishan," iQIYI explores interactive content channels and related production tools, and Mango TV tends to transform variety shows and drama IP into interactive derivative content.

A few years ago, long-video platforms already launched interactive dramas, but constrained by production costs and user habits, such works never reached scale. In this round, AI has lowered the cost of some production stages, while mature IP comes with built-in characters, stories, and an audience base, giving platforms the conditions to try interactive content again.

Whether through community distribution or adaptation of mature IP, platforms are using existing resources to lower the difficulty of cold starts. However, more works and closer entry points only solve the problem of users encountering interactive content; they do not answer why users should keep consuming it.

When watching an AI short drama, viewers only need to follow the plot and keep watching, which is precisely the core "easy-watch" experience of short dramas. Interactive content, by contrast, asks users to stop and make choices at key nodes. If the choices can change characters' fates, resolve suspense, or lead to different endings, participation itself has value; if the options are merely formal branches with little difference in the subsequent plot, interaction becomes an extra burden.

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These comments cannot represent overall feedback, but they are still worth considering: for viewers who were originally following the drama, the interactive version is not inherently an upgraded experience, and what they care about most is still whether the familiar story can continue to be updated. This is also where the risk of secondary IP development lies: users come for the original work and may not be willing to pay for a new format, and may even resent it because the original work has stopped updating.

In addition, there is a boundary that needs to be carefully handled between interactive content and games. Games rely on tasks, operations, progression systems, and instant feedback to form a complete experience; users clearly know what they are pursuing and can get positive feedback from their actions. If an interactive drama still mainly relies on linear narrative, the experience may not be enough to support repeated entry by users; if too many complex mechanisms are introduced, it will increasingly resemble a game, raising production costs and usage barriers while directly running into competition with mature game products.

Short videos took several years to go from a novel content format to a daily consumption habit. Interactive content also needs to go through similar validation.

Platforms are building tools, entry points, and a creator ecosystem, but whether interactive content can move beyond small-scale experiments ultimately depends on whether works can make users willing to participate actively, and whether creators can obtain sustained returns from them.