Chinese embrace the business of fear
Escape games with horror themes are becoming popular with young people as calls for the introduction of an age-based classification system grow
Chen Yiwei says that, growing up, she felt different to most girls because she was more interested in cerebral, stimulating puzzles than fashion or cosmetics.
The 29-year-old from Shanghai likes all kinds of puzzle games and admits to enjoying the thrill of a slight scare. She played her first “room escape” game in 2012 and many more in the years since, going on in July to set up the Escape Game Player Union, which helps members find new games to play.
Running the union, whose 13,000 or so members have explored 604 room escape games in 11 cities across China, prompted her to quit her job as a customer service operator at a financial company and become a full-time game player.
“Through the world created by the games, players can solve puzzles, rescue people in danger, help the unfortunate and enjoy the experience of being in different scenarios with others,” Chen said.
She said room escape games can have different themes, but many of the most impressive ones are related to horror or scary experiences.
“As a professional player, I have to try all different types,” Chen said. “I have to admit that conquering your fear can give you an extremely high sense of achievement.”
Horror as business
Zhao Yijie is one of the co-founders of Shanghai’s Pulupulu, the operator of China’s biggest themed game space, covering 5,000 square meters.
“Elements including horror, thrills and mystery that can arouse excitement are widely applied in our theme design and settings,” Zhao said.
Pulupulu has welcomed about 300,000 players a year since opening its doors in September 2013. Its most successful game was the scary Horrible Hospital, which closed after welcoming 500,000 people in two years from July 2014.
“Financial and information technology professionals are the top two occupations playing our games, and most of them are in their 20s and 30s,” Zhao said. “I think they have a need to release work pressure and fulfill a social need. In a setting with extreme scenes, players can easily forget who they are in reality and enjoy the fun.”
Cao Zhenshu, vice-president of room escape games chain Mr X, which operates in 22 Chinese cities, said most players are age 12 to 35 and preferences vary, although many like horror environments and features.
“Especially in the inland Chinese cities of Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha and Wuhan, players prefer horror themes than any other kind,” he said.
“The spread of internet-based social activity among youngsters leaves little chance for them to communicate with each other offline,” Cao said, adding that Mr X was founded in 2012 as an effort to remind youngsters of the fun of playing games in the real world.
Chen said up to 70 percent of the games tried by union members in Chongqing had a scary horror theme.
But Cao said players in larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai are less interested in horror themes. “This may have to do with their more diversified choices for entertainment,” he said, adding that good design of the experience is more important than its scariness.
However, offering thrills and scares is becoming profitable, with horror films being watched by an increasing number of young people, like Zheng Zongqin, who works in Shanghai’s financial sector.
“Horror movies are the best choice for people looking for a scary experience but not brave enough to see it in real life,” said Zheng, whose favorite horror movie is the Japanese film The Grudge.
Need for excitement
A survey by the National Retail Federation in the United States found that one in five US citizens is planning to visit a horror-themed attraction, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Meanwhile, Americans are estimated to have spent $8.4 billion on Halloween candy, costumes and parties in 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Although China is still at an early stage in the horror business, many young people are willing to pay to be scared.
“By adapting new technologies into a game or a 3-D movie, players or audiences can enjoy the experience — horror, scares, thrills — in a more authentic way,” sociology professor Yu Hai of Fudan University said. “Feelings of excitement have long been sought after by humans, ever since ancient times.
“When people have spare time from work, there comes the need for excitement, such as the creation of the ancient Roman Colosseum, the popularity of movies like Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express among young Chinese two decades ago, and the eagerness for all kinds of stimulation among those born in the ’90s and 2000s.”
Lei Kaichun, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the richness of material life and the tedium of daily life were driving people to find an outlet for their passions and hormones.
“The experience of all kinds of feelings, including horror, thrills and scares, can bring about great business opportunities — maybe even greater than you can imagine,” Lei said.
Safe form of danger
Huang Weiping, co-founder of a 4-D “death experience” space in Shanghai, said he was dumbfounded when he heard complaints from players who mistakenly thought it was a haunted house game, and that it was not scary enough.
“Though it’s not what we’re trying to do, I do see a demand for getting scared, as people are eager for excitement,” Huang said.
The United Kingdom’s Merlin Entertainments has announced that Shanghai will become the location of its first dungeon-themed attraction in Asia, and the 10th in the world, this fall.
To have broader appeal, Benjamin Sweet, the company’s director for new openings in the Asia-Pacific region, said it will stick to scary fun in Shanghai, with the right mixture of scariness and fun across 10 themes based on the city’s stories and legends.
“We don’t believe that horror is truly an enjoyable experience on its own, and there has got to be a balance for our guests of being on a knife-edge, having that thrill, and having that level of humor,” Sweet said. “Sometimes it is very easy to do it all horror, ... but you can either like it or not.”
He said China represents a huge opportunity for growth and for Merlin, and the company has seen the entertainment sector develop rapidly.
“The Chinese are really spearheading the need for immersive attractions,” Sweet said. “London is No 1 in terms of visitors, but we have great expectations for the (Shanghai) Dungeon.”
Yu suggests it might be better to introduce horror elements in a moderate way, and it would be even better with a classification and supervision system, because many players are minors.
Countries including the US and UK have classification and rating systems based on the maturity of different age groups for entertainment like movies and games.
“It would be good to introduce a classification system in China together with proper supervision, because the exposure to too much violence or sex would pose a very negative influence to children,” professor Yu said.
The recent hit movie Operation
Red Sea raked in 3.5 billion yuan ($556.5 million) at the box office, but also generated many online comments that while it was a good movie, it was too violent for young viewers.
Pulupulu’s Zhao said game designers are sometimes troubled by the lack of a classification system for games.
“To make sure the game can be played by younger audiences, designers have to make the games less scary, or less violent,” he said, although he conceded that could also make the games less fun.
“Skillfully introducing a little bit of horror or scary elements will make the games more attractive, but designers should not play it up too much, especially because there is no rating system in China for games.”
Conquering your fear can give you an extremely high sense of achievement.” Chen Yiwei, professional puzzle game player