Short-form scripted series are seeing growing international viewership, fueled by demand for mobile-first storytelling. On Sereal+, two 2024 titles — Once Upon a Divorce: The Double Life of Lady Diana and Dracula’s Kiss: Spellbound by a Doppelganger — have each surpassed 10 million views, highlighting the format’s widening appeal across markets.
Launched in late 2023 by COL Group, Sereal+ reported a 28.86% month-over-month growth in global downloads in December 2024, placing it among the top six short drama apps worldwide, according to Insightrackr.
Its latest update introduces several features centered on four priorities: AI-driven personalization, immersive viewing, interactive engagement, and improved technical performance. At the core is a new AI recommendation engine, Short Drama Recommender 2.0, which analyzes viewer behavior across six content surfaces — from homepage feeds to smart playlists. Internal testing suggests the new system has increased exposure of high-quality content by 65% and boosted average daily watch time by 150%. The company says it’s also developing models that can predict user interests before they fully emerge.
The update also enhances user experience through an immersive playback mode in the For You channel, allowing viewers to access show pages without leaving the video player — part of a broader shift toward low-friction navigation. To support viewer retention, Sereal+ has also introduced a gamified task system that rewards users for completing actions such as watching multiple episodes or discovering trending series. An optional ad feature allows users to double their rewards in exchange for viewing promotional content.
These changes arrive as short drama platforms gain ground in major markets. According to data shared at the Internet Audio & Video Convention 2025, user penetration in China reached 59.7% by the end of 2024, with daily viewing time averaging 101 minutes — comparable to that of social apps.
Sereal+ operates in a competitive space, as more companies enter the segment with experiments in monetization, recommendation systems, and localized storytelling. To support its international expansion, Sereal+ also uses COL Group’s large language model, XiaoYao, to generate and translate scripts in multiple languages.
As short-form video continues to evolve from niche trend to mainstream format, platforms are racing to balance content scale, personalization, and long-term viewer engagement — a challenge that product design and AI may increasingly help solve.
