That is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a e-newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and leisure, syndicated only for The Verge subscribers as soon as per week.
What for those who may make lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} with cheaply produced content material, all whereas sidestepping highly effective distribution platforms like Netflix and YouTube? This promise is on the core of Hollywood’s newest obsession: microdramas, a brand new type of storytelling that originated in China, gained momentum in India, and is now taking the US by storm.
There have been numerous tales in Hollywood commerce magazines and enterprise publications alike in latest months about apps like ReelShort, DramaBox, and ShortMax. These apps are supposedly poised to generate $1.3 billion in revenue within the US alone this yr, with international revenues estimated to be around $8 billion.
This has led various Hollywood corporations to leap on the bandwagon: Cineverse and Banyan Ventures have teamed up on a brand new service dubbed MicroCo, E! Leisure Tv founder Alan Mruvka is on the brink of launch the microdrama app Verza TV, and Fox has invested in Holywater, the startup behind the microdrama app My Drama.
There have additionally been a bunch of tales concerning the manufacturing of those mobile-first tales, with shoots being low-budget, non-unionized, and maybe, at instances, exploitative.
However little or no consideration has been paid to the viewers of those exhibits. All these tales about huge development and big income estimates ignore what it’s like for shoppers to truly use a microdrama app. So I made a decision to obtain ReelShort, the preferred microdrama app within the US, and take one for the workforce.
Extra Sweet Crush than Quibi
First issues first: Microdramas aren’t the identical factor as Quibi. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s failed try at making a Netflix for short-form content material relied on costly Hollywood expertise and large manufacturing budgets, all whereas fully ignoring the world of short-form social video.
Microdramas are primarily the other of that. They’re cheaply produced, extremely shareable exhibits consisting of dozens of 1- to 2-minute episodes primarily based on profitable romance tropes. Each different present appears to have a good-looking billionaire who’s prepared to threat his status to free a damsel in misery trapped in a relationship with an abusive associate. Oh, and the billionaire might be additionally into BDSM, simply because. There’re additionally loads of billionaires in disguise, stolen inheritances, and mafia dangerous boys.
It’s straightforward to make enjoyable of those sorts of tales, however as somebody who watches each Bridgerton and White Lotus, I’m not going to fake to have some ethical superiority. Having responsible pleasures is okay, truly. And boy, ReelShort does have a number of them, all designed to get you hooked inside the first 5 to eight 1- to 2-minute episodes.
After that, the paywall goes up, and also you’re in for a shock: Limitless entry to the app’s catalog prices a whopping $19.99 per week. In different phrases: A month of viewing is about 10 instances as costly as Netflix’s least expensive tier.
There’s additionally a $200-per-year subscription, and viewers can decide to unlock particular person episodes by shopping for coin packages. Unlocking a whole season of a present with these packages can price anyplace from $30 to $50 on common. Which sounds affordable, aside from the truth that many of those seasons, when watched in a single sitting, are about so long as a median film.
A ReelShort consultant didn’t reply to questions concerning the app’s pricing, however ReelShort and different apps like it would inform you that viewers don’t should pay in any respect to observe. That’s technically true: Daily, you’ll be able to watch a number of extra episodes of your favourite present — say, two or three — at no cost. Then, the freemium wall seems, prompting you to pay up. Again out of it, and also you’re supplied to as an alternative watch adverts to maintain going.
Besides, you’re by no means actually certain for the way lengthy. Sooner or later, watching an advert might unlock two episodes of a present. The subsequent day, the identical advert solely will get you entry to a single episode. An absence of predictability seems to be a key part of gamifying ReelShort’s rewards system, as is the fixed promise of getting fortunate. Simply once you’ve nearly burned by way of your adverts, a pop-up seems to remind you to make use of the app’s check-in system. That’s 20 cash proper there!
After all, unlocking an episode or two prices you 60 cash. Good factor you’re additionally getting rewards for time spent watching. Ten minutes of viewing time will get you 30 cash, which sounds nice, till you do not forget that every episode is only a minute or two lengthy. At this level, you would possibly think about beginning a brand new collection simply so you’ll be able to proceed watching the collection you’ve been which means to observe within the first place.
There are some methods to earn cash on ReelShort, typically geared towards making the app a extra fixed presence in your life. Turning in your cellular notifications for an limitless stream of viewing and check-in reminders will get you 30 cash. Giving the corporate your electronic mail deal with interprets to a different 30 cash. Following them on Instagram, Fb, YouTube, or TikTok? One other 15 cash every. These development hacks appear to be working for ReelShort: The corporate’s predominant Instagram account has 8.6 million followers, whereas its YouTube account has 9.6 million subscribers.
Along with series-specific adverts, ReelShort additionally enables you to watch as much as 17 adverts per day to financial institution cash, to the tune of 20 cash per advert. Which wouldn’t be that dangerous, if the adverts weren’t fully insufferable. Throughout on a regular basis I spent on ReelShort, I noticed only one advert for a client packaged items model, plus a number of movies promoting Temu. The remaining had been advertising and marketing video games and different apps, together with some significantly annoying mini-game adverts that appeared purposefully designed to make it almost inconceivable to shut them.
Aggressive freemium, designed to make you pay
Does all of this sound vaguely acquainted? Then you definitely may be among the many thousands and thousands of people that usually play free-to-play video games. Microdrama apps have taken a number of cues from cellular gaming and sometimes even have direct hyperlinks to this business: Loopy Maple Studio, the corporate behind ReelShort, additionally runs various free-to-play video games, together with such selection titles as Makeover Date: Make-up ASMR.
The corporate will not be shy about that heritage: It actively promotes its free-to-play video games inside ReelShort, touting them as yet one more solution to get cash. Obtain a Loopy Maple Studio sport and full a degree, and also you’ll get 30 to 50 cash. After all, in every of these video games, you’ll even have to observe adverts, acquire rewards, win cash…
Along with watching a bunch of ReelShort content material, I’ve additionally spent a very good period of time studying by way of the app’s critiques on the app shops and third-party evaluate websites. ReelShort truly does get fairly good rankings on each Google Play and the App Retailer, the place the app’s ranking averages are 4.3 and 4.5 stars, respectively.
Nonetheless, studying the precise critiques tells a distinct story. Individuals have a tendency to like the exhibits themselves, however even five-star critiques incessantly function complaints concerning the worth of the subscription and ReelShort’s rewards system. Unsurprisingly, the identical points additionally dominate damaging critiques of the app, with one analysis finding that 47.8 % of all damaging critiques had been taking difficulty with costly pricing.
Irritating individuals with these opaque and onerous rewards appears to be the purpose, as Creator Ventures managing associate Sasha Kaletsky pointed out earlier this yr: “I name this ‘aggressive freemium’ as a result of, though some content material is on the market at no cost, it’s made so disagreeable to make use of the free model … that paying has nearly change into a requirement.”
That strategy appears to be working for ReelShort: The app generated almost half a billion in cumulative international in-app income by March 2025, in response to SensorTower estimates. Microdrama apps additionally proceed to see robust development, thanks partly to heavy spending on social adverts. Sensortower estimates that ReelShort competitor DramaWave is buying greater than 80 % of its customers by way of promoting on TikTok and elsewhere.
Spending closely to accumulate thousands and thousands of customers after which consistently nagging these customers to pay exorbitant costs for short-lived subscription packages can lead to spectacular income numbers — the sort of numbers that get you cash from VCs, or maybe Hollywood studios in search of the subsequent large factor.
Nevertheless it hardly looks like a solution to construct a sustainable enterprise mannequin. Working example: After I acquired prompted one too many instances to pay, I merely googled the identify of the present I used to be attempting to observe. The very first search end result occurred to be a pirated model, uploaded to a streaming website that additionally hosts dozens of different exhibits from the app, and is incessantly talked about by ReelShort customers on Reddit.
As a result of for those who annoy your prospects lengthy sufficient, they’re going to search out their billionaire boyfriends elsewhere.