Kakao Ryan Released as VR Game... SKT Nyangi Emoticons Also on Sale

[Asia Economy Reporter Joesulgina] A virtual reality (VR) game where you can meet Kakao's representative characters such as Ryan and Muzi in a virtual space has been released. JumpAR's representative character Nyangi from SK Telecom is being sold in the Kakao Emoticon Store. This is a result of digital content collaboration between SK Telecom and Kakao.

On the 2nd, SK Telecom announced that it has released 'Friends VR World,' featuring characters like Ryan, Muzi, and Apeach as game characters, in collaboration with Kakao VX.

The VR game 'Friends VR World,' consisting of five islands in the sky, is characterized by each island being an attraction embodying the concept of each character. The 'Ryan Island,' designed with a Viking ride concept, aims to deliver both thrill and fun with dynamic movements different from traditional Viking rides. The 'Apeach Coaster' is an attraction game with two backgrounds: day and night. Users can enjoy the game through dedicated VR devices such as Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR.

'Friends VR World' was simultaneously launched in 23 countries including Korea, the United States, Japan, and Europe through the Oculus Go store. SK Telecom plans to bundle the 'Oculus Go' and 'Friends VR World' game pack for sale by the end of July.

Along with this, SK Telecom decided to sell 'What are you looking at? Play with me quickly~ Jump! Nyangi,' a 3D emoticon of its 5G-based JumpAR application’s representative character 'Nyangi,' in the Kakao Emoticon Store. The 3D emoticon features detailed movements of each cat expression, fur, texture, and perspective, delivering rich emotional expressions.

SK Telecom plans to continue releasing character emoticons using JumpAR’s animal characters, following Nyangi with 'Cute Welsh Corgi' and 'Comedy Instinct Alpaca.'

This 'digital content collaboration' is expected to create synergy between the two companies by creating digital content using their representative popular characters and selling them through each other's platforms.

Jeon Jinsu, Head of SK Telecom 5GX Service Business Division, said, “Nyangi, whom you met in Jump AR, can now be met in daily life through Kakao emoticons,” and added, “We plan to build a VR game ecosystem together with game developers by releasing ‘Friends VR World,’ where you can meet Kakao characters in a virtual amusement park.”