Major revenue sources for Bilibili include virtual gifting, ecommerce and advertising, as well as in-game purchases (the company is also a game publisher). According to the company’s Q2 2019 financial statement, mobile gaming accounted for 60% of its total revenues, followed by 21% from live streaming and other value-added services, 11% from online advertising, and 8% from ecommerce and other businesses.
Just as iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku have entered the interactive video market, so too has Bilibili. The platform has provided tools for all of its users to create their own interactive videos and has offered rewards totaling RMB1 million ($151,000) to the standouts in order to incentivize creators.
Bilibili wants to establish its brand as a legitimate content provider by partnering with reputable content creators like Discovery to bring documentaries to its platform. Through the “Bilibili x Discovery” channel on its site, Bilibili users can access 145 documentaries and 200 hours of exclusive Discovery-produced content, according to details on the deal from Seeking Alpha. The two companies are also working on co-producing programming.