Do you love to play "Script Kill"?
As one of the most popular leisure activities among young people
The script kills the industry hot at the same time
It is also accompanied by some hidden dangers:
The script is similar to plagiarism, contains horror elements, fire safety hazards...
April 25, 2023
The country's first case of "script killing" of infringing and pirated copies
The trial was held in Taiyuan
It has once again attracted people's attention to "script killing"
How long can "script kill" be popular?
What are the implications of the norm?
Where should practitioners go?
Grandeur:
Every 10 meters is a "script kill"
"Welcome to Detective Marvel, I am the DM ('Script Kill' store host) Lan Eucalyptus (screen name) of everyone's scene... Shenlu Kyushu, the north and the south are divided, and the war is endless..." In front of the small round table, facing a group of young people, the voice of Lan Eucalyptus sounded.
With the cooperation of music, young people entered their own roles and began to interpret and reason according to the plot of the script.
"Script Killing" originated in the UK, originally named "Murder Mystery", simply put, players play different roles around the script to find out the real murderer. In 2016, "script killing" quietly emerged in China and gradually spread and popularized among young people.
Even in the face of the epidemic, the number of offline stores of "script killing" was still "skyrocketing". From 2019 to April 2021, the number of domestic "script killing" stores rose from 2,400 to 45,000, an increase of nearly 18 times in three years.
"Every 10 meters is a 'script kill' shop." Referring to the grandeur of Guiyang, the "capital of script killing" in previous years, Lan Eucalyptus sighed with emotion.
Guiyang's "script killing" industry has developed early and started fast. In this city of more than 6 million people, the number of stores has exceeded 1,000, and the density of stores ranks among the highest in the country. However, Lan Eucalyptus introduced to reporters that the predecessors of many "script killing" stores may be board game stores, billiard rooms, chess and card rooms, and the boss may be a doctor, catering, sales, and self-media, which shows that the threshold for entering the "script kill" at its peak is very low.
According to the survey, among the offline trend entertainment methods of young Chinese consumers, "script killing" ranks third, after movies and sports and fitness. "In 2019, a 'script kill' store that invested 100,000 yuan can return the book within a month." Lan Eucalyptus said that when it opened, it coincided with the peak season of winter and summer vacations, and the flow of water in a week could exceed 10,000 yuan.
As a new first-tier city, Hangzhou has been ranked among the top five popular cities in the national "script killing" list. In 2021, there were more than 700 "script killing" offline stores in Hangzhou, an increase of 7 times over the previous year. Some experts pointed out that in cities with high economic strength, urban residents' life and work rhythm is relatively fast, and the pressure index is relatively high, and the demand for immersive entertainment such as "script killing" is high.
From online to offline, from big cities to small counties, "script kill" stores are all over the country. The beginning of the market has also made the "script killing" industry gradually form a relatively complete industrial chain of "content source - distribution and sales - game consumption", and the industrial scale continues to expand and upgrade.
"In 2021, the development of the 'script killing' market ushered in a watershed." Wang Xiaolong, executive secretary general of Hangzhou Immersive Cultural and Creative Alliance, said frankly that after the blowout development of "script killing", the industry reshuffle was ushered in, coupled with the epidemic prevention and control requirements at that time, some "script killing" stores experienced a short suspension of business, or even permanent closure, and there are more than 400 left in Hangzhou in 2022.
In the second half of 2022, "script killing" stores in various places have resumed business one after another, and the store where Blue Eucalyptus is located has successfully survived.
Chaos:
10 yuan can buy 3,000 electronic scripts
"'Script Kill' is here, how can it be so fun?" "The plot is also too flat, similar to the previous game." "The DM host is also too careless, and there is no sense of experience at all!" ...... Lan Eucalyptus often flips through the comments of "script killing" consumers on various platforms, and she finds that there are many complaints among them. "Most of these bad experiences come from pirated scripts."
The script is the soul of "script killing". Wang Xiaolong said that the vast majority of "script killing" products are similar to movies and belong to one-time consumption, so the demand for content supply upstream of the industrial chain is high.
A good script often needs to be polished for a long time, and involves multiple links such as creation, design, testing, and sales. The reporter learned that at present, the "script killing" script is mainly divided into two types: boxed books and limited books. Boxed books, all "script kill" stores can be purchased, the unit price is about 500 yuan; Limited books, based on cities, each city limited number of purchases, the unit price is about 3,000 yuan, and there are exclusive limited scripts, the price can reach tens of thousands of yuan.
The high price and the difficulty of robbing the capital have led some people to see a business opportunity to make huge profits - to replicate pirated scripts. The price of these pirated scripts is very low, a set only costs about 20 yuan, and even some e-commerce platform merchants claim that 10 yuan can buy 3,000 electronic scripts.
"Every month we spend 50,000 yuan to buy scripts from distribution studios." Lan Eucalyptus told reporters that not long after the new book, other stores also directly listed the same pirated version, and also sold to consumers at a lower unit price, which is a dimensionality reduction blow for them. "The pirated script does not have all the information and no after-sales, and once consumers play the incomplete version of the script that misses the wrong page and the props are missing, the sense of experience will plummet."
Rampant piracy "rolls" up the industry and exacerbates the problem of homogenization of script content. "There are fewer and fewer interesting scripts." "Script killing" player Xiao Chai has been in the "pit" since 2018, and he has to meet friends almost every week to play during the frenzy. He feels that compared with previous years, the content of "script killing" is difficult to break out of the routine. In addition, some have plots such as pornography, horror, and violence, and some directly copy games, anime, novels and other works, and there are many plagiarisms between scripts.
It is worth noting that among the consumer groups of "script killing", there are also minors who cannot be ignored. According to the "Research Report on Youth Immersive Entertainment and Rights Protection (2021)" jointly released by the China Culture and Entertainment Industry Association and the China Youth Research Center, more than 60% of teenagers said that they like and like to play "script killing" immersive games, and the younger the age, the higher the proportion of likes.
How to promote the "script killing" industry that makes minors "on the head" on the right track? The Dinghai District Procuratorate of Zhoushan City held an industry governance meeting to discuss with relevant functional departments and industry operators. "Minors do not have rich life experience, have limited psychological endurance, and will show symptoms such as panic and discomfort when emergencies or stimuli appear." Shi Bingbing, an expert in mental health education in Zhoushan City, said that if psychological counseling is not carried out in time, minors will leave psychological shadows, and mental illness may occur over time, which makes people "think carefully and fearfully".
Regulation: How to "kill" "script killing"?
In the past two days, Lan Eucalyptus has been very busy, there are many new scripts in the store, and she is busy uploading script scripts and other relevant information at the entrance of the script entertainment activity management department of the national cultural market technology supervision and service platform, waiting for approval.
"To develop 'script killing', standardized management is the key." The person in charge of the Industry Development Department of Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism said that "script killing" is in the exploration stage, and regulatory intervention and standardized development are needed. To treat new industries, the new regulations of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other departments adopt a prudent and inclusive attitude to incorporate new formats of scripted entertainment into the regulatory vision, draw a red line for the bottom line of supervision, and clarify departmental responsibilities and regulatory boundaries.
Considering the younger consumer group, the new regulations clearly provide relevant provisions on the protection of minors. Walking into the store where Blue Eucalyptus is located, the reporter saw that the store made a clear reminder and announcement of the restrictions on minors. "Except for holidays and winter and summer vacations, we will not let minors into the store to play books. If you are unsure, we will also ask them to show identification. ”
The reporter noted that the new regulations have restrictions on time, scene, content and other aspects.
The Notice on Strengthening the Management of Scripted Entertainment Business Establishments points out that script scripts used in scripted entertainment business establishments should set age-appropriate prompts and indicate the age-appropriate range; Where the scene set up is not suitable for minors, a reminder shall be given in a conspicuous position, and minors must not be allowed to enter. Scripted entertainment business venues shall employ measures to prevent minors from indulging in addiction. Except for national statutory holidays, rest days, and winter and summer vacations, script entertainment business venues must not provide scripted entertainment activities to minors.
The Interim Provisions on the Administration of Scripted Entertainment (Draft for Comments) clarifies on this basis that minors under the age of 14 who participate in scripted entertainment activities shall be accompanied by the minors' parents or other guardians. Where it is difficult to determine whether they are minors, they shall be required to show their identification documents.
The reporter also noticed that only a few scripts in the store indicated the appropriate age for play. "Some scripts have been released for a long time, so the age of playability is not clearly indicated." Lan Eucalyptus said that in response to this problem, it is mainly prompted through oral form. For minors, positive energy scripts with patriotism, family affection and friendship will be mainly recommended, and "scripts of terrorist violence or involving murder will not be recommended".
The core of "script killing" is the script rather than "killing". The Interim Provisions on the Administration of Scripted Entertainment (Draft for Comments) encourages and supports eight directions for scripted entertainment creation and production, such as Acura for the Communist Party of China, Acura for the motherland, Acura for the people, and Acura for heroes; Promoting the development of science education and the popularization of science and technology; To promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and other civilizations in the world. In addition, it is proposed to establish a content self-examination and expert review system.
"At present, there are basically no more scripts, and in fact, we do not accept such scripts ourselves." Blue Eucalyptus also hopes that the evaluation and grading of the content of the script will cover all as soon as possible.
Explore:
Survive the cold winter and usher in spring
"Right now, 'script killing' is entering a positive track." Wang Xiaolong said that the management of "script killing" ushered in new regulations, which released a positive signal to practitioners.
In fact, self-discipline has always existed within the industry. Wang Xiaolong told reporters that in 2021, representatives of Hangzhou's "script killing" practitioners spontaneously formed the Hangzhou Immersive Cultural and Creative Alliance. "At the beginning of its establishment, the members of the alliance explored and standardized from the aspects of store operation, DM training, copyright protection, etc., and strived to create a good regional 'script killing' development ecology." At present, the Hangzhou Script Entertainment Association, which is jointly established by hundreds of local script entertainment practitioners, is being organized and implemented.
From explosive growth to reshuffle in the industry, "script killing" practitioners who have gone through ups and downs are still full of expectations for the future, and are also trying to integrate the "script kill+" model into all walks of life. For example, with campsites, cafes, shopping malls and other business entities, to create cross-industry joint names; Open up the boundaries of training, ideology and politics, party building and other circles, and fully explore the advantages of resources.
"Affected by multiple factors, the early 'script killing' did not let the outside world understand its value and advantages." Wang Xiaolong said that nowadays, more and more local governments are giving all-round support to "script killing".
Wear costumes to the "Peach Blossom Festival", enjoy gorgeous light shows, interact with NPCs to solve puzzles... This is not the filming site of a costume drama, this is Zhoushan Peach Blossom Island during the "May Day" period. Relying on the advantages of resources and the characteristics of scenic spots, the local government has launched the "script killing" project to bring tourists a different new experience of cultural tourism. Tourist Ms. Chen saw the launch of "script killing" "Ten Dynasty Peach Blossoms" on the island, so she rushed to "solve the hunger". She said, "The architecture on Peach Blossom Island is very compatible with 'script killing', and the substitution experience is very good." ”
To seize the "new outlet" of the cultural tourism industry, Luoyang issued the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Development of the Scripted Entertainment Industry" last year. The plan focuses on the implementation of four key tasks, including the expansion of the main body, the cultivation of the industrial chain, the cultivation of talents, and the guidance of norms, and introduces preferential policies such as rent subsidy reduction, enterprise output value subsidy, park scale compliance award, park enterprise listing incentive, excellent script incubation, and industrial talent incubation.
As the first special policy for the scripted entertainment industry in China, the plan proposes to establish a scripted entertainment industry headquarters economic park, and strive to achieve more than 100 leading enterprises in the industry by 2025, with an annual output value of 2 billion yuan. The emergence of this program has provided a model for the implementation of the "script killing + cultural tourism" project in various places.
"More and more departments are sending out invitations to cooperate, perhaps this is a new direction for the scripted entertainment industry." Wang Xiaolong feels that after surviving the cold winter, practitioners who adhere to innovation will eventually usher in spring.
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