Beijing Universal Studios frequently collaborates with Chinese IPs, which have entered the high-value licensing market.

Reporter Li Haoyue

From March 20 to May 31, Beijing Universal Beijing Resort will collaborate with Genshin Impact, a game under miHoYo, to launch a dedicated themed zone. This is the first time since opening in Beijing that the resort has presented a Chinese IP in an immersive interactive themed area. In the second half of the year, Beijing Universal Beijing Resort will also feature immersive interactive zones for other Chinese IPs such as The Lost Tomb.

2026 marks the fifth anniversary of Beijing Universal Beijing Resort. Over the past five years, the collaboration between Beijing Universal Beijing Resort and Chinese IPs has evolved from superficial cooperation to deep integration.

According to incomplete statistics, Beijing Universal Beijing Resort has successively partnered with Chinese IPs such as Honor of Kings, Beijing 81, Chang’an 30,000 Miles, and Genshin Impact. The forms of collaboration range from parade floats to themed restaurants and outdoor interactive zones, with scale and investment continuously expanding. Among these, Beijing Universal Beijing Resort has partnered with Genshin Impact twice, the first time in 2025.

Regarding the Genshin Impact themed zone at Beijing Universal Beijing Resort, Lin Huanjie, director of the China Theme Park Research Institute, told Securities Daily: “This marks the official entry of Chinese IP into the high-value licensing market, solving the previous dilemma of ‘having influence but difficult to monetize.’ It also sets an example for the development of domestic IP in the broader entertainment industry, proving that Chinese IP can be deeply transformed into real-world entertainment and broadening licensing cooperation ideas.”

Why did Beijing Universal Beijing Resort, after operating in China for five years, only now begin to introduce Chinese IP on a large scale?

Lin Huanjie explained that currently, Beijing Universal Beijing Resort has a thorough understanding of Chinese tourists’ needs and the market competition landscape. Early collaborations with projects like Honor of Kings and Beijing 81 were also part of a gradual market response test. The results show that introducing Chinese IP effectively compensates for the current international IP lineup’s lack of “Chinese content.” Additionally, Chinese IP fan bases can significantly increase repeat visits to the theme park.

On one side, international giants like Beijing Universal Beijing Resort are actively collaborating with Chinese IPs, while on the other side, domestic theme parks are struggling to develop flagship IPs.

Currently, the domestic theme park market is mainly dominated by a few listed companies. According to their performance, most parks in 2025 still face challenges such as difficulty increasing ticket prices, high investment in new projects leading to increased depreciation and amortization, and intensified competition causing profit margins to decline.

An industry analyst told Securities Daily: “The reason domestic theme parks cannot become international-level parks is the lack of core IP capable of generating sustained huge commercial value. The competitive advantage of international giants lies in their extensive IP matrices accumulated over decades, enabling continuous content curation and iteration. Domestic parks rely more on equipment upgrades, real estate support, or simple character licensing, lacking full control over the entire industry chain from content creation to offline experience.”

In fact, in fields like gaming, film, and novels, China does not lack popular IP with international influence. For example, in gaming, Genshin Impact has demonstrated advantages in cross-regional consumption through multiple offline events; in film, Nezha: Warrior Devil Boy has grossed over 15 billion yuan, with derivative products exceeding 100 billion yuan; in novels, IPs like The Lost Tomb and The Mysteries of the Secret Master have been successfully transformed into radio dramas, animations, films, and games, achieving “one fish multiple eating.”

Lin Huanjie stated that the breakthrough for domestic theme parks lies in how to accurately and deeply restore IP from the digital world to physical offline spaces. This will be the ultimate test of the entire industry chain’s ability, from content production to offline operation.