Major internet giants have set their sights on a new gameplay, turning AI short dramas into games?

The popularity of AI short dramas remains high, and internet giants including Douyin, Tencent, and Kuaishou have set their sights on new gameplay. 

Since October, Douyin has publicly called for interactive dramas and interactive film & games produced by real people and AI; Tencent's AI interactive content product "Konghu TDream" has launched beta testing; Kuaishou has also launched the "Interactive Content World", gathering interactive plots, mini-games and other content together. 

Some popular AI short dramas have begun to be adapted into games. In the past, audiences could only watch the protagonist make decisions, but now they can participate in the plot by themselves, and even go into battle to fight monsters in person. 

Players can choose the direction of the story, and interactive film & games are by no means new. What new tricks can AI bring to the table? 

01> Round 1: Beat the first level, and I've watched no less than five ads!

Crazy Tech Lab first experienced Douyin's File Zero: Reboot. 

File Zero: Reboot is adapted from the AI short drama of the same name. After entering the game, the chapter selection interface is displayed first, which is no different from ordinary games. 

In the first chapter, I played a newly recruited intern who was about to report to Lu Qian, the head of the Containment Division. As it turned out, Lu Qian was out on a mission, and Shen Yan, the head of the Detection Division, received me. 

Faced with the inquiry "You are the new intern, right?", the game gave two options: 

A. Yes, sir, I'm here to report for duty. 

B. I'm an intern with two and a half years of practice experience! 

I chose option A. 

Shen Yan told me that there was a small boundary point to deal with right now, and he was going to take me to participate in a closed operation. 

The first mission began. 

I needed to drag the screen to adjust the observation perspective and check the surrounding situation. After watching for a while, I tried to click "Skip", and a 30-second ad popped up. I could only get the reward and continue to advance after watching it. 

Then, a strange eye appeared on the screen. 

At this moment, the game asked me to make another choice: stay calm, or report to Shen Yan immediately? I chose to stay calm. 

Unexpectedly, the unknown creature behind this eye suddenly rushed over. Shen Yan hurriedly told everyone to retreat, but it was too late, and the mission failed. 

Fortunately, there was a retry opportunity, which only cost 30 stamina points. I watched one ad and returned to the choice node. This time I learned my lesson and chose to report immediately. 

The plot was indeed different. Shen Yan asked me to pilot a fighter jet to hold back the monster while the others retreated. 

The combat link is no different from ordinary games. You attack the monster, can restore health when your health is insufficient, and can even activate "full firepower" when the firepower is not enough. However, to get these extra helps, you have to watch ads. 

Halfway through the fight, my health was not enough, so I watched an ad to restore triple health; when I needed to enhance firepower, I watched another 30-second ad. During this period, an "Unlimited Play Membership Card" that can skip ads also popped up, which allows you to skip up to 50 ads per day, but you need to buy it with in-game diamonds. In order to enhance firepower in the middle, I watched several more ads. 

Finally, I defeated the monster, and the system gave out rewards including alien fragments, weapon fragments and stamina. There was also a "Double Reward" button on the settlement interface. To claim it, I still had to watch one more ad. 

The first chapter ended, I successfully contained the monster, and also got praise from the chief Lu Qian. However, as an intern, I still need to complete the first five levels of training to face the next "big guy". 

From the initial dialogue selection to observation, combat and reward settlement, File Zero: Reboot is not just adding a few options to a short drama, but has been made into a complete game process. 

Choices do change the plot. But if you don't want to pay to unlock the subsequent plot, there are just too many ads! 

02> Round 2: No ads to watch at all, but it feels like doing reading comprehension

Next, I experienced Odyssey: Choice in Kuaishou's "Interactive Content World". Different from File Zero: Reboot, this is a vertical-screen interactive film & game, which ranks first in the "Popular" column of the mini-program. 

After entering the game, you need to click the screen to continue each section of the plot, and when you reach a key node, select the answer from several options. 

At the beginning of the plot, Odysseus has been wandering outside for twenty years. After a brief background introduction, the game asked me what I missed most about my hometown. 

The three answers are marked with hints such as "Love, Humanity", "Career, Honor", "Flexibility, Divine Favor" respectively. It seems that different choices will shape different characters and plots. 

But I tried to go back and select all three answers one by one, and the same plot appeared afterwards. 

Later, when I entered the parliament, the game asked me to respond according to the personalities of the characters. For example, Agamemnon longs for glory and hates weakness; when facing the elderly Nestor, you need to stay patient. 

I deliberately "did the opposite", and offended several people in my first choice, so the mission naturally failed. But the game directly allowed me to retry without watching any ad. 

After avoiding the wrong answers, I tried different combinations of correct options, but there was no obvious change in the subsequent plot. What I saw was the same Trojan horse. 

When facing the doubts of the Trojans, the options became more straightforward. 

The game prompts that the plan can only succeed if the Trojans believe that the Greeks have left. Then two options are given: "Burn the entire camp and leave nothing (go all in)", or "Just let the fleet sail over the horizon (give up halfway)". 

It can be said that the correct answer is clearly written on the question. 

At this point, I decided to quit. It's not that there are any particularly serious problems, it's just a bit boring. Clicking the screen all the way, choosing according to the prompts, and retrying after answering incorrectly, there is really not much desire to continue exploring. 

File Zero: Reboot has combat and exploration, which plays more like a game, although there are quite a few ads; Odyssey: Choice didn't make me watch a single ad, but it felt like doing reading comprehension exercises. 

03> If you can choose the plot, do audiences want to be screenwriters themselves?

The more choices there are, the larger the amount of material that needs to be shot, leading to high costs and high production thresholds. 

As early as 2018, Netflix launched the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The hit game Love Is All Around that became popular in 2023 also allows players to independently choose the emotional direction with six heroines. 

But these interactive film & games have one thing in common: no matter how the audience chooses, the plots they see are all prepared in advance by the creators. 

For example, in an ordinary short drama, if the male and female protagonists break up, the story can just continue. But if the audience can choose to break up or get back together, the production team has to shoot both plots. If you can later decide who to be with and whether to take revenge, more materials need to be prepared. 

The development of AI video generation technology is beginning to change all this. 

In July this year, the AI interactive video platform Yoroll launched AI Odyssey adapted from Homer's epic. The creator spent only two days and about 250 US dollars to produce more than 140 AI videos and design 11 endings. 

Production tools are also being upgraded. In September, Jianying demonstrated the AI interactive film & game creation platform ICG Studio, which can generate scripts, characters, storyboards with the help of AI, and design different plot branches. 

For different endings that used to be shot in reality, some can now be generated by AI. The production threshold is lowered, and creators also have the opportunity to add more branches to the story. 

The above changes are mainly focused on the production side. For players, if they are not satisfied with the ending arranged by the author, can they directly ask AI to re-perform the story according to their own ideas? 

Hongguo Short Drama has already started trying. 

In July this year, Hongguo tested the "Parallel World" function in some AI comic dramas such as Legend of the Ten Thousand Demons. Audiences can choose the character and plot direction, such as "Sweet Moment" and "Full of Excitement", and they can also enter their own requirements to let AI generate a new video of about 10 seconds.