Tencent Literature leads round for Chinese interactive filmmaker
AltStory, a Chinese interactive movie and television content company, has raised approximately RMB100 million ($14 million) in Series A funding led by China Literature, a listed unit of Tencent Holdings.
PaperGames, a Chinese interactive game developer, also took part in the round. AltStory previously received investments from ZhenFund, Matrix Partners China and Toutoushidao. The latter spun out from Matrix in 2015 and focuses on culture and entertainment investments.
Launched in 2017, AltStory released two detective series on TencentVideo and Mango TV earlier this year. There is an audience participation element to the format, with viewers able to participate in key decisions on plot development that lead to different endings.
Aligning with China Literature and PaperGames could give AltStory access to get more original content for its interactive TV program and movies. The company is pursuing a two-pronged strategy - developing its own content and offering technical support to independent TV and filmmakers who want to create interactive versions of conventional productions.
"Interactive film and television, as a new form of interactive content, breaks down the barriers between film and television on one side and games on the other. It integrates film with technology to provide the audience with a strong sense of substitution. With the advent of 5G era, interactive films will be an important form of content consumption which will push a faster growth of AltStory," said Le Yin, a vice president at ZhenFund.
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