AcFun, there are still 81 years to go before it becomes a century-old brand

As of 2026, Tongrentang has been around for 357 years, Quanjude for 162 years, and AcFun for 19 years.

Putting these three together might seem a bit abrupt. But looking at the contemporary internet, video - content platforms that have survived for 19 years can be counted on one hand, which makes AcFun's significance even more evident.

Once - popular platforms like 56.com and Popcorn have long faded away. Tudou stopped updating in 2023, and YinYueTai only exists in watermarks, but AcFun is still alive. With a daily active user base of just over 100,000, an operation team of less than 20 people, and almost zero annual revenue, the outside world calls it the "living fossil of the second - dimension internet."

Fossils are dead, but living fossils are alive. Although it's not doing very well, just being alive is a skill in itself.

Congratulations to AcFun, this living fossil. It only needs 81 more years to become a century - old brand.

Make Good Connections

In its 19 - year history, AcFun has changed hands six times. If an item can be resold six times, it might become a family heirloom. From this perspective, AcFun is a gem in the internet world, though it has given its former owners quite a hard time.

In 2010, founder xilin sold AcFun to Bianfeng. The person who took over was Chen Shaojie, the general manager of Bianfeng's Wuhan branch at that time. Mr. Chen was no ordinary person. He set up a live - streaming section called "Shengfangsong" within AcFun, which became independent in 2014 and was renamed Douyu.

Douyu went public later. Subsequently, far more people knew about Douyu than AcFun.

After Chen Shaojie, Cai Dongqing of Aofei Entertainment acquired about 92% of AcFun's shares in his personal capacity. Later, Youku Tudou, SoftBank China, Huace Film and TV, and Zhongwen Online all invested in it one after another.

With six different financial backers in six years, AcFun has become the most diligent second - dimension financing expert in the Web2.0 era.

It's hard to generalize about how those who have worked as senior executives at AcFun have fared later. However, their experience at AcFun has more or less influenced them. Looking back at their career paths, AcFun is like a transfer station for them. People come and go. They take something away from here and will also leave something elsewhere.

Playing Dead and Coming Back to Life

AcFun is well - versed in the art of "turtle breathing." Every time people think it's gone, it always manages to come back to life.

In the summer of 2009, the server crashed, and the website shut down. The butterfly effect of this shutdown was quite significant. A user named ⑨bishi couldn't stand it and set up a small website called mikufans, which was later renamed bilibili.

Every year since then, AcFun has always faced issues where it couldn't be accessed, constantly experiencing ups and downs.

Until February 2018, AcFun encountered its biggest crisis. The website and the client were completely inaccessible. Almost every day, the media and KOLs were writing obituaries for AcFun. The official Weibo account also posted a message: "I want to live for another 500 years!"

The whole internet was calling for the rescue of AcFun, and the topic hit the hot search. But among those calling for the rescue, how many are daily users of AcFun? How many are people who usually don't even think about opening this old website but just feel it's a pity if it disappears?

AcFun knows the answer well, so it never asks.

500 years is too much to ask for, but after ten days of near - death experience, AcFun really rose from the ashes. Ten days later, it was back up.

Intensive Cultivation

At its peak, AcFun had 3 million daily active users. By 2026, the number had dropped to just over 100,000.

On the home - page recommended videos, a video with just a few hundred views can make it onto the list. Even for the top video on the daily list, even if it's a sexy dance video, it's hard to get over 10,000 views. The anime section, which used to exclusively purchase anime and was known as the "genius in buying second - dimension anime," now has only a dozen or so anime series on the whole website. The operation team has been downsized to less than 20 people, and technical maintenance is supported by Kuaishou on the side.

However, AcFun's viewers are never pessimistic. Some people think this is the "acquaintance mode." There are only a few IDs in the comment section. The danmaku and comments posted today might get a response in a week. If other platforms are communities, then AcFun is like a living room. How warm a living room is!

Actually, danmaku on AcFun is no longer just for others to see. After all, there aren't many works that can fill the danmaku pool of a whole video. If one can record a few words about today's mood in front of an empty video section on a lonely night, then coming back to watch it after some time will bring a special feeling.

No one has counted how many such electronic monologues are stored in AcFun's danmaku pool, but using danmaku to write a cyber diary on others' videos sounds quite exciting.

Gradually, AcFun has degenerated from a content platform into a content museum. The exhibits are the old videos that were still shining a few years ago, and the visitors are the old users who are reluctant to leave.

Good at Nurturing

Although AcFun is in its twilight years, the things it has spawned might really become century - old brands.

Douyu was spun off from AcFun's Shengfangsong. During the years when Chen Shaojie was in charge of AcFun, he planted the seeds of live - streaming in Wuhan, which later grew into a listed company and the second - largest player in the game - live - streaming industry. Sun Min became the CEO of AcFun in 2015 and later found his comfort zone at Youku Animation, continuously contributing to domestic animation. The money that Aofei, Zhongwen Online, and Kuaishou have invested in AcFun may not have been completely wasted. At least, they have bought a unique memory of the old second - dimension.

AcFun has nurtured gods and many extraordinary people. Although AcFun itself is struggling, the people who have left here have propped up one after another sector in China's internet, live - streaming, and animation industries.

The meme culture germinated at AcFun. Internet phenomena like Jin Kela, Jin Guanchang, and Lanlanlu all originated here. The second - dimension Spring Festival Gala was first initiated by AcFun in 2010, and later, various New - Year - greeting shows became an annual event in the entire second - dimension circle.

AcFun doesn't want to take back these things, nor does it plan to. It just stands there, watching the eggs it hatched grow into free birds, flying higher and farther than it.

Kind - hearted and Loyal

In June 2018, Kuaishou acquired AcFun in full for a valuation of 1.04 billion yuan. As mentioned before, that year, AcFun had just survived a ten - day life - and - death crisis, with a broken capital chain and unpaid salaries to the point where it couldn't pay for the server. Kuaishou's users lent a helping hand, promising to maintain AcFun's independent brand, independent operation, and keep the original team.

In 2019, Kuaishou invested 570 million yuan in AcFun's Super UP Master Support Plan, helping AcFun rebuild its technology and upgrade its content. In 2020, AcFun's daily active users once reached 3 million, which was the most glorious year for AcFun since its acquisition.

Later, as a listed company, Kuaishou had to compete with the already - invincible "Yinfu" platform. It also faced profit - making pressure and had to fight hard against new technologies like Keling AI. Naturally, AcFun, a money - burning and non - profitable business, was given a lower priority. In 2021, when the policy of pre - review for animations was implemented, the anime series that AcFun had purchased were stuck in the review process and couldn't be launched. The last group of content users began to leave.

Kuaishou has not let AcFun down. From 2018 to 2026, it's been eight years. Which financial backer can support a platform with 100,000 daily active users and almost zero revenue for eight years?

AcFun users will never forget Kuaishou's kindness.

Century - long Vision

AcFun has a group of old users. How old are they? They are so old that they only show their UIDs and rarely visit AcFun. But they are also a bit "selfish." On one hand, they can't remember AcFun's current domain name. On the other hand, they don't want it to disappear. If it does, they will shed a few sincere tears, post a comment on Bilibili with an old picture of AC - niang, and write a caption like "As long as AcFun exists, love will always be there."

Does AcFun need such users? It's hard to say. But AcFun is even more reluctant to part with these "hypocritical" old users. There is a very subtle relationship between them. They regard each other as a stray cat they have fed for years. They don't pet it often, but if the cat really disappears one day, they will look for it and worry so much that they can't sleep at night.

Speaking of which, there are still 81 years left for AcFun to become a century - old brand.

81 years is enough for a baby to become an octogenarian, enough for a super - large company to rise and fall repeatedly, and enough for the internet to hype up the concept of Web30.0. For AcFun to survive these 81 years, it will probably have to play dead dozens of times, change hands a few more times, and be rescued a few more times.

Probably no one expects AcFun to become something great in the future because no one can even imagine what it will be like when it becomes a century - old brand, and most people won't live to see that day.

But just imagining the scene where AC - niang sings "I really want to live for another 500 years" on her 100th birthday, only the toughest people can keep a straight face.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Reliable Second - Dimension" (ID: kpACGN), written by the Reliable ACG Editorial Department