iQIYI's VR Program Kicks Off to Unleash VR Potential

BEIJING, June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China's leading online video service provider iQIYI hosts The 2017 Virtual Reality Global Conference in Beijing today, releasing a white paper on China's VR industry and announcing major projects to support China's VR content productions and share benefits with its partners who will be provided with full resources on iQIYI's open platform.

Mr. Duan Youqiao, senior vice-president of iQIYI, Mr. Xiong Wen, intelligent hardware vice-president of iQIYI, Mr. Rachid El Guerrab, head of Google Spotlight Studio, Mr. Jonathan Flesher, global vice-president of Baobab, Mr. Tommy Plam, CEO of Resolution Games, Ms. Charlotte Jones, executive producer of BBC and many other distinguished guests in VR sector from across the world attended the summit and shared their insights.

As a leader in China's VR innovation in video industry, iQIYI proposed the "10+100+1000" initiative last year and plans to bring it to a new level this year.

Over the past year, under the "10+ IP video production program", iQIYI introduced VR production into the platform's standard film and drama production procedure and launched 10 major VR works including dramas and games.

As to "100+ IP game cooperation plan", iQIYI has selected 100 popular IPs from its platform to game developers for their free use. One of the VR games launched by iQIYI, named Ling Yu, has become the most downloaded paid game within just one month since its launch on Xiaomi VR platform.

Currently, iQIYI has gained over 21 million active users through plug-in and app channels, which overfilled the target of 10 million users it set one year ago, said Mr. Duan.

In 2017, Mr. Duan said, iQIYI will continue carrying out the the"10+100+1000 Initiative" and put much of its efforts in supporting partners to create more premium contents derived from IPs.

At the summit, he announced several key projects the company will work with partners, which would be in the forms of online games, dramas, films and live concerts. In the future, Duan added, iQIYI's VR unit will focus on creating immersive experience with innovative technologies, integrating VR films with VR games and establishing a VR ecosystem centered around quality IPs.

On the summit, iQIYI released The White Paper on 2017 China VR Industry, a research based on its own user statistics and outsourced surveys. According to the report, 80 per cent of China's VR users are single young men and most of them were born in 1990s. They tend to work in the internet industry or study in universities.  

The study finds that video games are now the most engaging contents for China's VR users; and the peak hours for them to watch VR content are in the evening between 8pm and 10pm, lagging one hour behind that for TV viewers.

The report also finds that the first 40 seconds in VR content are the most important period to retain VR users. Currently, the most preferred category for VR users is virtual world adventure, it says.

In addition to content production, iQIYI has also tapped into VR hardware market and launched the first 4K high-resolution all-in-one VR headset in March. Xiong Wen, vice-president of Intelligent Device Department of iQIYI, said major technology difficulties in VR device development are expected to be overcome in near future and there will be more and more all-in-one VR devices with a potential million-level sales performance. 

SOURCE iQIYI