Hidden trends in Asia: Why ‘murder’ and toys are booming in China

This article is a collaboration between Betty Chum, Stefanie Yeo, and Doris Yu.

Trend 1: How to script your way to murder

Script murder, a role-playing game known as Juben Sha in Chinese, has been in China for years. However, it really took off when people were stuck at home during the pandemic.

The game immerses users into a storyline and can be played in specialized venues like escape rooms. Players are given scripts, costumes, and character descriptions to join the plot line. Along the way, users will collect evidence from the crime scene and interrogate each other to figure out “murderer” in the script.

A Chinese reality show called Who’s the Murderer features local celebrities playing the script murder game live. It recorded nearly a total of 6.6 billion views for the first three seasons.

Current landscape

By November 2020, there were 30,000 script murder venues across China, marking a year-an-year growth of 63%. The industry was valued at around 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in 2019, according to a report by China Central Television.

Some areas to keep an eye on are:

• Make a killing: The popularity of Who’s the Murderer drove traffic to its online version, Woshimi, which raised tens of millions of yuan in 2018. There’re also Xijing Dazhentan, an app backed by Matrix Partners China, and Baibian Dazhentan, which secured 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) in strategic investment from WePie Team in November 2020.
• Playin’ and palin’ around: Apart from playing games, users also treat these apps as social media platforms where they can meet and make friends with strangers, and some of the friendships extended offline.
• Murder at your doorstep: What if you can solve murders from the comfort of your own home? Subscription boxes could offer this convenience. US-based Hunt A Killer is doing just that: The murder-mystery company delivers clues, items, and correspondence to clients’ each month to immerse them in an interactive story. Its monthly recurring revenue reportedly reached US$5 million in 2019.

Trend 2: Are you feeling lucky?

Blind boxes are collectible figures with a twist: Buyers don’t know what toys are inside until they open the package. These collectibles are seeing a surge of popularity in China, driven by the “lipstick effect” – the purchase of small indulgences during an economic crisis.

Part of the fun is in trying to complete a set of collectibles. Due to the random nature of blind boxes, buyers often have to purchase multiple boxes from the same series in order to get all the toys in a set.

One player in the space is doing particularly well. Beijing-based Pop Mart has over 75% market share and raised US$674 million in its Hong Kong listing in December 2020, giving it a valuation of US$7 billion.

Current landscape

Trend 3: How a small step results in big changes