Interview with Demi, Executive Producer of "Prosperous World": Interactive Films Begin to Move Beyond the "Beginner’s Village"

Within five days of launch, the "Empress Chapter" surpassed one million units sold globally; within twelve days, over two million units.

On June 30, 2026, the "Prosperous World" series exceeded five million units sold, setting the world record for live-action interactive film sales.

In "Prosperous World," users play the female lead, Wu Yuanzhao, entering the palace as a talented woman and advancing the story through repeated choices, ultimately rising to the pinnacle of power.

This unique blend of alternative life and innovative interactive design has attracted many users.

In the era dominated by short videos and attention economy, a work totaling about 1,000 minutes and requiring players' decisions to progress proves a point: the audience's desire for immersive, long-form content still hasn't faded, only awaiting a better way to "immerse" in the story.

Recently, Wallstreetcn · Allweather Technology had a conversation with Demi, the chief producer of "Prosperous World." From "The Invisible Guardian" to "Prosperous World," her studio New One Studio has always focused on developing interactive video products.

Throughout the conversation, she repeatedly mentioned one word: 'immersion.'

This is what distinguishes interactive films from traditional filmmaking, but whether it can become a breakthrough opportunity for long-form series, "Prosperous World" might provide an exploration.

“Play Your Own Story”

This isn't Demi's first interactive film project.

As early as 2019, Demi led New One Studio in launching "The Invisible Guardian," which mainly featured real-scene, high-definition stills, interspersed key segments with live-action shorts, complemented by subtitles and music to create a cinematic feel. It became a representative work that explored the genre and entered international markets.

Seven years later, New One Studio released another interactive film—"Prosperous World."

Unlike the male-dominated spy thriller "The Invisible Guardian," "Prosperous World" mainly targets female audiences.

Why did New One Studio choose a completely different subject and audience for this interactive film?

"I saw people online joking that they've watched 'Empresses in the Palace' so many times it's worn out."

Demi believes that combining palace intrigue with female growth narratives might have genuine market demand.

From entering the palace as a talented woman to ultimately reaching the pinnacle of power, it's a process of 'comeback against the odds, life reversal.'

"When passively watching, this experience is someone else's story. Here, it's your own." Demi pointed out, "Personal experience is the real competitive advantage. You are the protagonist and must conquer each challenge, explore and take risks, and achieve your ultimate goal."

Demi gave a specific example.

In the first part of "Prosperous World," Noble Consort Wei first meets the new court ladies and asks if she can be gifted the peony hairpin.

"For a newcomer at work, this immersive sensation is: I finally have a chance to connect with a big shot—what should I do?" Many viewers naturally project this situation onto their own lives.

"Immersion" may be just three words, but to maintain it throughout a 1,000-minute work requires meticulous effort at every stage.

The full script for "Prosperous World" totals about 300,000 words, with a development cycle—from project approval through filming and production—exceeding three years.

During these years, the team not only polished the story but also carefully designed every option's logic: Is the player's current goal clear? Does she know how this interaction and decision will affect the expected unfolding of the plot?

These details determine whether viewers will continue to engage.

Demi noted: "Live-action filming allows for more nuanced performance. The actors need a deep understanding of the script and genuine passion for the genre."

Thus, the team selected its cast from over 2,000 candidates.

On set, each plot point typically has two to four options, and actors must try out different scenarios, with NPCs reacting accordingly. Every key contributor, including costume, set, and art teams, underwent a process of "adaptation and rapid learning."

Interaction frequency is also a challenge that must be precisely planned during the script stage.

The team began exploring pacing during "The Invisible Guardian," which, being more like a comic or a PPT presentation, required a faster tone, with interactions every two-plus minutes.

"Prosperous World" is fully live-action, averaging one interaction every three to four minutes, sometimes less than a minute. Yet, some segments purposely exclude interaction to allow viewers to immerse themselves in a complete story arc.

How to “Seamlessly Jump”

Technical challenges abound as well.

On one hand, an interactive film may contain more than a thousand video clips. Each user interaction triggers a jump, so visual transitions must be as smooth as possible.

On the other, how to minimize video file size while maintaining equal quality, clarity, and length.

According to Demi, this project mainly used the Unity engine for development.

Unity, developed by Unity Technologies, is a leading gaming engine worldwide; Chinese games like "Honor of Kings" are based on it.

Recently, AAA titles pursuing extreme visuals have shifted toward Unreal Engine, yet Unity remains irreplaceable for its cross-platform compatibility, lower development threshold, mobile optimization, and mature lightweight design.

For interactive film projects, Unity's video stream management, cross-platform compatibility, and lightweight design are advantages—making it "more suitable and able to enhance user experience."

Specifically, "Prosperous World" deeply optimized video encoding, decoding, caching, and streaming in Unity, ensuring smooth transitions while compressing individual clip size to the extreme.

"We aim to make files as small as possible without compromising quality, so the experience won't be limited by network conditions," Demi said.

In practice, "Prosperous World" maintains HD quality matching top traditional films, with nearly imperceptible compression loss.

Besides, the team developed a custom editor.

Normally, after filming and splitting into over a thousand segments, implementation is handed to developers, who must deeply understand both plot and design logic.

With the editor, pre-production staff can directly configure settings and check if the product matches design intent.

All this attention throughout scripting, filming, and production led to "Prosperous World"'s commercial success.

However, sales show that the second part ("Empress Chapter") outperformed the first part ("Meiniang Chapter").

"Meiniang Chapter" launched September 9, 2025, selling over a million units in twelve days, but "Empress Chapter" did it in five.

Demi analyzed the reasons:

First, after "Empress Chapter" launched, viewers could buy both parts, experiencing a more complete storyline.

Second, the latter part is about 1,000 minutes—twice the length. The plot, from returning to the palace from Ganye Temple and rising to Empress, is richer.

"From the inner palace to imperial court, the layers of growth deepen, feelings with other characters grow increasingly complex, and this narrative tension resonates with more people. The ensemble cast is also depicted more richly," Demi said.

Breaking Through the Long-Form Dilemma

Back in 2018, Netflix launched "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," allowing global audiences to "choose their own storyline" on streaming platforms.

The next year, Chinese video platforms followed: iQIYI released the world's first interactive video standard IVG, and Tencent Video and Youku joined in.

The same year, "The Invisible Guardian" topped Steam's global sales chart, proving that viewers will pay for high-quality interactive storytelling.

Since 2025, the "Prosperous World" series has broken through to a wide female audience. It launched an H5 version on Tencent Video, likely the first interactive film to debut on a traditional video platform.

Yet, counting from 2018, breakout interactive films are still rare.

This may be mainly due to high filming costs. Live-action interactive films are inherently high-barrier: each branching storyline must be shot, producing several times, even ten times, the material of a normal show—testing the team's scriptwriting, filming, and production skills.

Therefore, only meticulously crafted works can break through and reach the market. Plus, the genre remains new to most users, with few market experiments and fewer success stories.

Despite limited hits, they have increased genre familiarity in mainstream markets.

With long-form series declining, interactive films carry new industry hopes. Recently, user attention has become fragmented, making it harder for long-form shows to build pacing and narrative foundations.

Hit series are harder to find, and the entire long-form video industry seeks ways to increase viewer immersion and interactivity.

Interactive film is clearly a major opportunity, and AI technology is now opening another door for this high-cost category.

If the core bottleneck for interactive films used to be "every new branch doubles recording costs," then AI's end-to-end cost reduction—from script generation to video production and post-compositing—could fundamentally change this equation.

According to Allweather Technology, major companies are trialing fully AI-powered productions, though works aren't yet online, and whether AI-generated characters can deliver immersive experiences remains to be seen.

Interactive Film Vision

In the interview, Demi revealed two directions for future exploration:

First: Interactive Cinema.

She envisions an offline scenario: in a cinema, viewers use their phones to vote on plot direction, choosing the majority option, each option showing a percentage. Perfect for collaborative adventure genres.

Afterwards, viewers can review alternate branches online. The team already conducted a pioneering half-hour experiment.

Second: International Expansion. "Prosperous World" topped iOS paid charts repeatedly in Korea, Singapore, and other global markets. At a recent meet-and-greet in Seoul, many users wrote to thank the creators: "This product helped me through the hardest time in my life and restored my strength." Many without tickets waited outside the venue, unwilling to leave.

Demi sighed: "True feelings are without borders."

For the whole industry, interactive films are evolving toward mainstream entertainment.

But challenges remain.

Cost is the greatest barrier, and material volume is several to ten times that of normal series. Can AI cut costs while preserving live-action nuance? Will industry competition lead to quality or sameness?

Only time will answer these questions.

At the interview’s end, Demi said to Allweather Technology: “We’ve only just left the beginner’s village."

From 2018 to 2026, some viewers are no longer satisfied just "watching." They want to participate, choose, and experience another kind of life.

This is a primal desire, finally matched by suitable technology and content.

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