Netmarble F&C Subsidiary
Reveals First Girl Group 'Maeve'
Smilegate's Han Yua
Signed Exclusive Contract with YG KPLUS Last Year
Active as Model, Writer, and More
Gaming Industry Utilizes Virtual Humans
Expectations for Reduced Marketing Costs and More
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The curtain has risen on the virtual human competition in the gaming industry. Virtual humans are emerging one after another, starting the competition.
Netmarble’s ‘Maeve’ Debuts After 1 Year and 5 Months
Netmarble is unveiling 'Maeve,' the first girl group of its subsidiary Metaverse Entertainment, on the 25th. Maeve, releasing their first album 'PANDORA'S BOX' on music platforms at 6 PM that day, is a virtual human idol group composed of four members: Siwoo, Jena, Taira, and Mati.
Metaverse Entertainment is a subsidiary established in August 2021 with 100% investment from Netmarble F&C. Maeve debuted after a trainee period of 1 year and 5 months. Kakao Entertainment also made a strategic investment in this company.
Netmarble plans to nurture the metaverse as a core strategy. Last year, Chairman Bang Jun-hyuk stated, “Netmarble will fuse the metaverse with blockchain to create a second reality world, not just a virtual world,” adding, “We will actively enter the metaverse industry using metanomics and metahuman technology.”
We Will Lead K-POP Stars in the Metaverse World
A representative ‘senior’ virtual human is Smilegate’s Han Yoo-ah. Debuting as a singer in 2019, Han Yoo-ah released two single albums. The first single album reached 7 million views on YouTube within 6 days of release, and the second album’s new song charted as high as 35th place. Last year, she signed an exclusive contract with a YG Entertainment subsidiary. Since then, she has been active in various fields such as modeling and writing.
Kakao Games affiliate Neptune introduced Nasua through its subsidiary Onmind. Nasua was selected as the main advertising model for SK Telecom last year and will be active overseas this year. Nasua signed a three-year exclusive contract with Thailand’s DDD last year. She can be seen at various landmarks around Bangkok.
In February last year, Krafton officially announced its entry into the virtual human business, unveiling its first virtual human Anna developed with in-house technology in June, and Winnie in July. NCSoft has not officially declared entry into the virtual human business but has made personnel changes to expand the business.
Virtual Humans Are Just Taking Their First Steps, Greater Expectations Ahead
The reason the gaming industry is rushing to develop virtual humans is due to high expectations. Especially in the metaverse, content using games is expected to dominate, and the role of virtual humans within it is expected to grow even larger.
The industry sees that virtual humans can first contribute to reducing marketing costs. Major expenses in the gaming industry are labor and marketing costs. When a new game is released, hundreds of millions of won are spent on TV commercials featuring top stars or influencer promotions with millions of followers. Using virtual humans owned by the company for marketing can significantly reduce these costs.
As the metaverse market grows, virtual humans are expected to have a greater presence as celebrities within it. Rather than characterizing celebrities outside the metaverse again, using virtual humans that can be directly integrated into the metaverse world is expected to demonstrate competitiveness in terms of cost and usability, the industry predicts.
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