"Fan Meeting, Fireworks Festival" SKT Chasing Zepeto... Declares 'Metaverse Territory Expansion'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] “Attend K-pop star fan meetings and enjoy the Hangang Fireworks Festival in the metaverse (extended virtual world).”

On the morning of the 19th, SK Telecom held a press conference in the metaverse space for the first time among domestic companies and announced a blueprint to make its metaverse platform ‘ifland’ a communication hub in the non-face-to-face era. The plan is to evolve into an ‘open platform’ so that not only the MZ generation familiar with the metaverse concept but all generations can participate in concerts, small gatherings, and experiment with various possibilities in virtual spaces. It also plans to enter the global market within the year to compete with Zepeto, which has over 200 million global users.

◆From K-pop Fan Meetings to the Hangang Fireworks Festival

SK Telecom aims to lead social trends in the non-face-to-face era by hosting large-scale events such as university festivals and K-pop fan meetings on ifland. In particular, it views the entertainment industry as a representative sector that can maximize synergy with the metaverse and plans to create a space where stars and fans can communicate.

It also proposes a new campus culture for the non-face-to-face era. Following the country’s first metaverse freshman entrance ceremony held in March this year, a cheering competition for the Korea-Yonsei University rivalry will be held in the metaverse next month. Major domestic fireworks events hosted by Hanwha will also be exclusively provided as mixed reality content.

A market system where users can buy and sell items will also be introduced. Users can design and create clothing and items to express their individuality, as well as trade them. A space creation platform that can be customized according to users’ tastes and purposes will also be applied. The intention is to realize the value of an open platform where users not only visit standardized metaverse spaces but also create worlds themselves and experiment with various possibilities within them.

◆Dreaming of a ‘Communication Hub’ in the Non-Face-to-Face Era

SK Telecom’s strategy is to differentiate ifland as a practical communication tool where many people can interact in one space. Unlike existing platforms such as the US-based ‘Roblox’ or Naver’s ‘Zepeto,’ which focus on ‘fun’ elements centered on entertainment and are mainly used by teenagers, ifland aims to leverage the strengths of a telecommunications company to focus more on communication such as meetings and gatherings.

SK Telecom explained, “It can accommodate up to 130 people in one space, making it optimized for large conferences and meetings,” and added, “It is attracting attention as a new marketing channel for companies and organizations.”

SK Telecom strongly expresses its intention to secure a leading position in the rapidly growing metaverse market through ifland. The unveiling of this blueprint is also an official challenge to Naver Zepeto, which has already established itself as a global platform. This reflects the judgment that the ‘metaverse economy,’ where people enjoy and consume in virtual worlds, has become an unstoppable trend. It is expected that new markets will be formed as new technologies such as virtual currency, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, and smart health connect in the future.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA) forecasts that the global metaverse market will grow from the current $46 billion (about 51 trillion KRW) to $280 billion (about 311 trillion KRW) by 2025.

SK Telecom will expand the metaverse ecosystem by broadening its service areas to include virtual reality (VR) devices. Ifland released its Android operating system (OS) version in July and launched the iOS version on the 10th. The Oculus Quest OS version will also be released within the year. Global expansion will also be actively pursued within the year. The service will be launched on various overseas app markets to expand services for global customers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.