Daily 9/30: Game UGC ecosystems, VR music films, and China's gaming policy push

Chinese game platforms are expanding creator incentives and distribution, while VR music films combine fan operations with cinema touring. Gaming policy is also linking production, esports, urban venues, and overseas expansion.

• [Game Daily] Chinese game platforms are turning UGC into a long-term content strategy ↗

  Tencent's CraftBuddy has entered public testing as a tool for building runnable game prototypes with gameplay systems, characters, animation, UI, and sound, then exporting them to mainstream engines such as Unity. Works can be distributed inside the platform and through WeChat and QQ, with more than 20,000 premade assets available. Genshin is offering professional developers support of up to 500,000 yuan and as much as 100% of in-app purchase revenue, while Bilibili has run an AI creation competition with a 1.43 million yuan prize pool. Chinese game platforms are treating user-created content as a long-term supply and revenue-sharing ecosystem rather than a one-off event.

• [The Paper] VR music films are becoming fan-operation platforms rather than concert substitutes ↗

  Zebra Labs' Huang Minghao VR music film 《贾想世界》 is planning a 20 to 25-city tour after stops in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing. It uses seated 180-degree screenings in ordinary cinemas instead of large VR venues, reducing space and operating constraints, while city-level fan votes help determine the next destinations. Its AI agent Lisa404 provides show information, recruits local hosts, collects fan requests, and sells tickets. The project turns VR performance into a fandom operating loop that connects online companionship with offline attendance and spending.

• [The Paper] China's gaming policies are linking production, esports, and overseas expansion ↗

  Beijing's Haidian and Tongzhou districts have opened support applications covering game development, esports events, clubs, and industry spaces, while Shanghai has created cultural-creative funding routes for game IP operations, overseas releases, and esports activities. Chinese-developed games generated $2.03 billion in overseas revenue in August, up 20.87% year over year. Shanghai also paired an international esports event with a game-IP orchestral concert and themed consumer spaces. Gaming policy is moving beyond individual project support toward an ecosystem that connects studios, competitions, urban venues, and international distribution.