Fuxing Island, located in the eastern part of Shanghai's urban area, downstream of the Huangpu River in the southeast of Yangpu District, is an artificial island built in 1927. The buildings on the island are mainly old industrial factories, with few residents and only one park as entertainment facility...
The above content represents my entire impression of "Fuxing Island" formed through search engines and AI conversations. But as you all know, online information is the least reliable thing these days. After I took Shanghai Metro Line 12 and officially stepped onto Fuxing Island, I realized how wildly wrong my impressions were. Wasn't it supposed to be "ancient," "nostalgic," and "time-stopped"? Why is it now filled with trendy game booths and themed sets?
That's not all. More surprising than the transformation of Fuxing Island is the fact that this super-large professional offline game exhibition, "RED LAND," was organized by Xiaohongshu, which had never ventured into this field before.
It must be said that, from a player's perspective, this REDLAND event organized by Xiaohongshu offers substantial content beyond just its large venue size. Compared to previous large-scale game expos people are familiar with, which often focus on photo ops and queuing for demos, REDLAND's exhibition areas are highly immersive, featuring plenty of interactive content for direct participation, perfectly aligning with its positioning as an "Open World Adventure Island."
From the moment you enter, you can see a particularly large bar counter, wine cabinets, and cosplayers recreating game NPCs like Johnny Silverhand and Judy with high fidelity. That's right, at the "Cyberpunk 2077" booth of this REDLAND event, besides the usual demo machines, promotional posters, and screens, they also "moved" "Lizzie's Bar," an important plot location and underground gang gathering spot from the game, into the venue.
Unlike static landscapes meant only for photos, in this real-life version of "Lizzie's Bar," you can actually sit down, order a drink from the bartender Mateo, listen to the DJ spin tracks, or even exchange some trash talk with Johnny Silverhand next to you about who controls the body...
By the way, did this Johnny Silverhand walk out of the game??
There are many more examples like this in the "Rebirth Trial Grounds" area of REDLAND: At the "Phantom Blade Zero" booth next to "Lizzie's Bar," besides the large demo play area, the entire exhibition zone forms a visual art photography spot tailored to Xiaohongshu users' needs.
Countless intertwined red lines constitute the entire exhibition area, creating a unique sense of spatial artistry. I heard their producer graduated from the Architecture Department of Tsinghua University—this exhibition setup is truly astonishing!
Whether you are a pro at taking photos or a beginner at checking in, you can get free martial arts punk commemorative blockbuster shots with the help of a professional photography team led by Jimmy, the go-to photographer for stars like Jackson Wang, and the martial arts action director of "Phantom Blade Zero."
While checking in for photos, it also promoted the unique martial arts punk aesthetics of "Phantom Blade Zero" in the form of commemorative photos. This "win-win-win" creative idea is indeed impressive.
For another example, at the slightly farther "Sultan's Game" booth, they placed the Sultan's Throne, a key decision-making location from the game, right in the center of the booth. Moreover, in the interactive segment, you can actually draw the four types of Sultan Cards from the game—"Extravagance," "Conquest," "Lust," and "Slaughter"—and receive corresponding "Card Folding" tasks.
Although this real-life version of "Sultan's Game" won't lead players directly to a "death ending," holding the glittering "Sultan Card" in my hand, I experienced with unprecedented immersion why getting a gold card in "Sultan's Game" is bad news.
Moreover, REDLAND has even more interesting aspects. Xiaohongshu, known for its UGC (User Generated Content), also brought a "player mindset" to the entire venue this time. Unlike traditional exhibitions that strictly divide attendees into "exhibitors" or "visitors," at REDLAND, anyone you meet could be a content creator.
Perhaps he just sparked resonance among hundreds or thousands of fellow enthusiasts in the comments by sharing his post-game reflections; perhaps he is preparing his own indie game and gained his first batch of followers by posting notes; or perhaps he is Takayuki Sugawara himself, who recently went viral for saying "Please support Hyakunichi Senki"...
In terms of scene arrangement, unlike the sharp-edged booth divisions in traditional exhibitions, at REDLAND, you might discover several scenes incorporating game memes just by walking a few steps—perhaps a door marked "Do Not Open From This Side," a stone circle missing one piece, or a special rest area with a set of "Gwent cards" on the table... Although the sources of these game memes are not explicitly labeled, as a player, you will surely smile knowingly once you recognize them.
By now, you probably understand why I said this REDLAND event "has something special." As a game media editor, I have attended numerous game expos, both domestic and international, over the years, but this is the first time I've experienced such a dynamic, immersive exhibition.
When different game IPs and their diverse yet game-fitting interactive gameplay surround you, seeing those familiar games from your library, opened countless times, come "alive" in the real world like in the movie "Free Guy," is indeed a marvelous feeling.
After all, domestic single-player console players have always had their unique community cultures, ranging from quotes or codes understood only by insiders to massive fan-created kingdoms built brick by brick by hundreds of thousands of people. However, due to various complex factors, these unique community cultures have never formed a "centralized heating" exhibition. Whether it's large-scale game expos led by official game companies or various small "Only" exhibitions organized spontaneously by game enthusiasts, they all have aspects they cannot cover.
This REDLAND event hosted by Xiaohongshu precisely fills this huge gap, organizing the exhibition in the format most loved by single-player console users, effectively bringing "game expos to the table." The Rusty Lake booth is a great example of this. The REDLAND "Rusty Lake" booth replicated the real office scene of the game development team. In discussions about "Rusty Lake" on Xiaohongshu, "checking in at the development team's office" has always been a recurring topic. To express their love for the game, many players even Photoshop themselves into the team's 10th-anniversary group photo. Therefore, at this REDLAND event, the "Rusty Lake" booth directly embraced this "official meme," providing a spot for the 10th-anniversary photo and specially preparing an official thank-you letter to Rusty Lake players.
In an era where the exhibition mode of "queuing for demos to get merchandise" has become commonplace, outside of REDLAND, it is indeed hard to find such ingenious booth arrangements, and even harder to find that excitement of "they really get me."
As for how Xiaohongshu discovered this "gap"... the reason is quite simple. Since its inception, Xiaohongshu has been a community platform centered around UGC (User Generated Content). Unlike traditional media that unilaterally outputs information, or forums and tieba communities where discussion topics are highly concentrated, Xiaohongshu has fewer restrictions. From lengthy post-game reflections to one-liner complaints about specific content, Everythinggj can be published in the form of notes on Xiaohongshu.
This culture of "everyone is a content creator" has allowed Xiaohongshu's gaming community, after years of development, to form a relaxed and personal discussion atmosphere. Ordinary players can discover new games through countless precise recommendation notes; game bloggers can conveniently publish their latest specialized content; and developers can open communication channels with players, listening to their most authentic reactions at zero distance and achieving the best promotional effects through simple "one-on-one replies."
Therefore, rather than saying Xiaohongshu actively discovered this gap in the single-player player community, it is more accurate to say that when so many community members with diverse identities came together under Xiaohongshu's unique note-sharing format, they even gave rise to RED LAND, which tightly connects members of all links in this game community.
Furthermore, REDLAND is definitely not the endpoint of Xiaohongshu's influence in the single-player console game market. With Xiaohongshu's development over the years, we have witnessed players' co-creation drive "Sultan's Game" to 650 million topic views, seen Takayuki Sugawara and his "Hyakunichi Senki" gradually become the hottest meme in the 2025 single-player console gaming circle, and observed genuine sales growth driven by recommendation notes... From project incubation and online promotion to offline exhibitions that further enhance user cohesion, Xiaohongshu is building a high-aesthetic, strong-narrative content consumption platform for single-player console games.
Under this development trend, I believe that in the near future, "Xiaohongshu" will inevitably become a name that cannot be ignored when discussing single-player console games.