When Webtoons Meet AI Character Chats, 'Synergy'... App Visits and Sales Increase

Naver Webtoon Plans to Expand AI Chatbot Features
Chat with Characters from Webtoons... Fortune Telling Now Available

Naver Webtoon's AI chatbot 'Character Chat,' which allows users to converse with characters from webtoons, has been shown to have a positive impact on increasing original content consumption. This effect expands the experience of enjoying works by combining artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP).

Developed in-house by Naver Webtoon, the AI chatbot Character Chat meticulously learns the speech patterns, traits, and work information of webtoon characters, providing an immersive experience where users can interact as if they are conversing within the character’s universe. Since its launch in June last year, it has steadily gained popularity, currently recording over 3.35 million active users and more than 70 million messages exchanged between users and the AI.

Analyzing users who recently interacted with the Character Chats of Seol Hyerim from 'Byeol-i Sam Shop' and Love from '99 Ganghwa Namumongdungi,' Naver Webtoon found that the experience of chatting with webtoon characters positively influenced original content consumption.

The number of original episodes viewed by users of the Seol Hyerim Character Chat increased by 97% when comparing one week before and after the chatbot’s release. During the same period, the number of viewers increased by 29%, the number of paying users by 22%, and revenue by 44%. For users of the Love Character Chat, the number of original episodes viewed rose by 77%, with viewers increasing by 20%, paying users by 12%, and revenue by 31%.

Character Chat users tended to visit the Naver Webtoon app more frequently and consume more content. Comparing app activity indicators over two months for Character Chat users, the number of app visit days increased by 8%, days of content viewing by 7%, number of works viewed by 11%, number of newly viewed works by 32%, episodes viewed by 8%, and payment amount by 4%.

Based on these analysis results, Naver Webtoon plans to expand Character Chat in various ways, continuing the fusion of AI and IP.

Currently offering 12 Character Chatbots, Naver Webtoon added the chatbot for Cheonryeong from 'Gwihon' and Terdeo from 'Siwoldeuga Naege Jipchakhanda' today (the 15th). Beyond simple conversation functions, they have added entertaining features such as fortune-telling and changes in forms of address or conversational attitudes depending on intimacy levels.

Kim Hyo-jung, CPO of Naver Webtoon, said, "We confirmed that expanding the experience of enjoying works through Character Chat positively affects original content consumption and the discovery of new works. Based on this, we plan to steadily increase the variety of Character Chats. We will continue challenging experiments to ensure the synergy between AI and IP keeps growing."