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Text | Play Generation

"When it becomes a consensus that the ACG industry is a "super business", does it mean that a super bubble is coming?" This year, some practitioners have repeatedly expressed their concerns. But after watching BW, I was "wowed" by the ACG army.

BW, or "bilibiliword", is the largest comprehensive entertainment exhibition in China. This year, its scale and popularity have reached new heights. BW's three-day estimated visitor flow is 270,000; 615,000 reservations for tickets were made, and on the first day of ticket sales, 27,000 priority tickets were sold out in 30 seconds, and 100,000 regular tickets were sold out in 1 minute.

The feeling of being in it is more intuitive than numbers: the two-dimensional people who come from all over the country, dragging their suitcases, to "queue at night" and "train", declare with their actions: the market enthusiasm curve is still rising, and the concentrated release of consumption power during the summer vacation has driven a two-dimensional cultural tourism that integrates "shopping, shopping, traveling and playing".

Rather than saying that BW is an offline version of the online B station community, it is better to say that it is a "large cultural market", from which we can see the trend of the two-dimensional business: the richness of market supply has greatly increased, and the consumption investment of niche interests has increased significantly; the popularity of "eating the valley" has not decreased, but the market is divided, and the enthusiastic purchasing power is rationally concentrated on high-quality and scarce products; super game IP has greater derivative development opportunities, and the role-playing and emotional value attributes are prominent. Overall, the integration of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional has deepened, and this wave of heat has not only driven consumer enthusiasm, but also promoted the continuous iteration and upgrading of business.

Enthusiastic yet rational purchasing power

What is amazing is that in the BW derivatives retail area, there is a long queue outside almost every booth. "Buy tickets to enter, queue up to shop", this scene is no less than the middle class queuing up to buy LV bags at the door of SKPS, and the aunties fighting for a joint product outside Uniqlo.

Don't think these IP derivatives are cheap. For example, the coin purse of Magical Girl Sakura is nearly 200 yuan; a black leather pendant of Hatsune Miku, the size of a palm, is priced at 59 yuan, which is comparable to the price of a blind box of trendy toys. If you compare the quality and design of trendy toys, people outside the circle will scratch their heads and ask "Why is the price so high?" But even such a pendant has suddenly become popular after its release, and fans who chase the trend have raised the second-hand transaction price to 300-500 yuan, which is a real "financial product".

What is lamentable is not only the willingness to consume and the purchasing power, but also the "Engel coefficient" of BW players, which may be as low as less than 10%. They hesitate to buy a drink of 8 yuan in the vending machine, but buy a bunch of 59 yuan. In the circle, it is called "eating multiples". The so-called "Engel coefficient" refers to the proportion of food consumption, which reflects people's living standards.

It is understood that some students have limited travel budgets, and after excluding hard expenses such as tickets, flights and hotels, they can only temporarily "give up" their appetites if they want to shop. Some netizens pointed out that the McDonald's and KFC meal packages at the exhibition center, which cost more than 60 yuan, have become light luxury; others joked that the biggest business opportunity outside the comic exhibition is "selling steamed buns."

"Save as much as you can on food, and spend as much as you can on grains." Young 2D people have a unique "emotion-value ratio" consumption concept.

Although they look "crazy", the 2D characters are actually very "practical".

First of all, one of the main reasons for the attractiveness of BW is the "field sale", that is, the limited sale on the field. In addition, people have a strong shopping purpose, and many have already locked in "my favorite" (favorite characters) before going out, and the items are rare and have unique collection value.

Secondly, people are more picky about buying IP derivatives, and the "handles" must be richer and more eye-catching. Imported Japanese products are still more popular than domestic products. From on-site observations, general sales are often compared online and offline. There are many people who take photos of "Sea View Products" with their mobile phones and "s-ha-s-ha" (express their love). The 10% off clearance figures at the checkout counter will even be sneered at.

In addition, the "free materials" distributed by various companies are the "favorites" that do not cost money.

A BW viewer pointed out, "I only do three things in BW, collecting stamps, eating grains, and exchanging free stuff." He explained, "The free stuff from big manufacturers is like a limited joint release, there are not only proxy queues, but also scalpers." The free stuff from popular B-game IPs is almost bought up by VIP ticket viewers, and these things will have a premium when they are resold.

"Grain has become a fashion item." On a second-hand trading platform, a netizen auctioned off the "free items" from the "Love and Space" booth for 500 yuan, including a badge of the game character Qi Yu, a fan, a paper bag, and a set of postcards for all the characters.

It is worth mentioning that "purchasing" is not the end of this consumption chain. The core is to gain emotional value from eating and showing off grains and gain identity recognition in the circle. With over 140 million views on the topic #BW2024# on Xiaohongshu, "showing off spoils" has become a popular content.

Niche interests have evolved into consumer trends, and derivative development remains the core track

From the perspective of BW, in addition to the traditional game and animation sectors, the richness of derivative consumption and the scale of interest groups are expanding. In particular, the development of IP copyrights has been improved, and the richness of market categories has greatly brought more choices, thereby driving market prosperity.

BW is a place where brands and users can meet face to face. This year, all major manufacturers have brought out their best: more luxurious exhibition areas, more amazing installations, and immersive interactions with official cosplayers, which are refreshing. The 8-meter-high movable Sam mecha at the booth of "Honkai Impact 3rd" and the swaying light wing animation behind it "animate" the characters with full shock. "Azur Lane" reproduced the famous scene of "Commander, welcome back to Hong Kong!" and had a two-way run with the players. The "male protagonist" of "Love and Deep Space" interacted closely with the players, causing the female players in the venue to scream "I was controlled for dozens of seconds".

"Honkai Impact 3rd" exhibition booth

The "male protagonist" of "Love and Deep Space" interacts closely with players

Game IPs are still very popular, even surpassing the anime category. Especially for the otome games, "the number of visitors increased sharply, and the room temperature in the exhibition hall rose by two degrees." It is no exaggeration. Compared with the game krypton gold recharge, the players on site showed a stronger "shopping desire". Many limited-edition products brought by exhibitors are sold out. Compared with Japanese anime IPs, domestic game IPs still have a lot of room for exploration in the breadth and depth of derivative product development, and even in new consumer entertainment experiences.

Surprisingly, fans of the ACG world also showed strong consumption interest in popular content such as online novel adaptations, virtual characters, and trading cards. The once unpopular and niche categories are rapidly expanding, and cultural recognition is also increasing.

For example, the trading card exhibition area has made breakthroughs in gameplay promotion, exhibition, product sales, and limited release compared to previous years. Bandai Namco brought popular mainstays such as "One Piece" and "Digimon", and Japanese trading card giant Bushiroad also brought many of its IP cards, as well as top players of "Magic: The Gathering" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!". The competitive battles were diverse, and many people lined up to experience the fun of the battles.

The exhibition also brought valuable collectible cards such as "Black Lotus", and many people watched and took photos. As the player group expands, more and more people understand the "collection value" of it.

One thing that cannot be avoided is homogeneous competition. The same popular IP can be seen in related derivative products from multiple exhibitors, "fighting against each other in the air."

In addition, various brands are also chasing trend categories, and many card publishers are integrating into the two-dimensional category in terms of product richness. For example, Kayou has brought grain and stationery products in addition to diversified IP cards, and exhibited more abundant popular categories such as colored paper, Baji, and acrylic stand.

In addition to various IP cards, Jikashe is also developing IP derivatives, including acrylic standees, plush, etc. In addition, the brand has developed the "Capybara" character IP based on Internet celebrity animals and promoted the licensing business.

It is foreseeable that the leading brands will continue to expand the boundaries of pan-entertainment consumption in the future, and will include multiple categories such as stationery, trendy toys, millet, and cards, and even explore the upstream of the IP industry chain. This will be a new battle.

Eating grains is joyful, but joy does not stop at eating grains.

What makes the three-dimensional world refresh its cognition is that Cosplay is no longer so niche. On BW, the proportion of COS players is very large, and walking in the crowd, you may even feel that "wearing regular clothes is actually a niche."

From BW, we can see that dressing up as COS is like a walking "social business card", and its social attribute allows the two-dimensional people to connect with each other in the three-dimensional world. You can easily make a friend at the comic exhibition. As long as you boldly propose "stamp collecting" (taking photos), you can make friends and exchange "free materials" (personal self-made materials).

It is understood that some people started preparing for BW outfits two months ago: "what role to play", "make an appointment with a makeup artist", "find a custom wig from Mao Niang", "buy costumes and props", and spending money on equipment investment is only secondary. The cosplayer will also practice in advance just to "replicate" the famous scenes and actions of the anime characters.

In fact, cosplay is no longer exclusive to young people. The 47-year-old UP host "Nanako of the Selfie Hall" dressed up as the character "Yol" from "Spy Play". This is her first time participating in BW this year. Three years ago, she opened a cosplay selfie hall in Shanghai and turned the daily business of the store into a serial update on Bilibili. "Parents cosplay together" and "accompanying children to realize their dreams" are not uncommon.

A 30+-year-old ACG fan pointed out that "(after leaving school) ACG does not have social attributes". In the workplace, you can talk about sports, pets, and even share your concert experiences, which are better than talking about anime. "But at the comic exhibition, wearing COS takes off the class atmosphere." For many players, the irreplaceable value of BW lies in the fact that it can bring the most real emotional connection and the most contagious spiritual experience. In the offline field, being seen, cared for, and interacting with like-minded people, "social identity" is the background color of the ACG community's endless vitality.

Further "breaking the dimensional wall", the two-dimensional cultural tourism effect begins to emerge

As the popularity of BW continues to ferment, the heat wave of the two-dimensional world has also spread to the whole of Shanghai. Young two-dimensional people carrying "pain bags" and wearing cosplay clothes have flocked to popular commercial buildings in Shanghai such as Metro City, Bailian ZX, and Joy City, and ACG elements can be seen everywhere on the streets.

"Play Generation" learned from Jing'an Joy City that the "Jujutsu Kaisen" flash weekend event that just opened had "explosive" customer traffic, with sales reaching millions in just a few days, and "long queues formed before the doors even opened." Bailian ZX also temporarily turned on the flow control mode. After the BW exhibition ended, many users continued to "buy, buy, buy" with their suitcases.

The "secondary effect" craze has driven the local economy, including catering, accommodation, shopping, etc. Just one week before the launch of BW, the number of hotel searches around the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) increased by nearly 360% month-on-month. The hotels within 5 kilometers and priced below 800 yuan were sold out in advance at a rate of 20%, and the hourly room sales rate of high-star hotels reached 90%.

From CCG EXPO to BW2024, and the upcoming ChinaJoy, the many large-scale comic exhibitions in Shanghai and the summer vacation have brought about a wave of ACG cultural tourism. There are also performance activities such as Hatsune Miku concerts during the same period. ACG fans jokingly call it "staying in Shanghai".

It can be seen that the two-dimensional business continues to break through the "dimensional wall", from cultural phenomena to consumer booms, from new categories to new formats, and its influence continues to expand from a niche circle, driving diversified cultural and tourism consumption such as travel, catering and shopping, and driving the linkage of cultural, sports, tourism and business exhibitions. According to iResearch Consulting data, in 2023, the scale of China's two-dimensional industry is expected to grow by 27.6% to 221.9 billion yuan, maintaining a high double-digit growth rate for seven consecutive years. When the two-dimensional world becomes a wave of heat and becomes an indispensable force in leading the consumption field, the commercial value of this group culture still needs to be redefined.