Lotte Home Shopping Becomes First Retailer to Enter Gaming Market Using 'Belligom'

Mobile Game 'Belligom Matchland' Unveiled
First Launch in the UK Next Month... Domestic Launch in September
Part of Content Business Expansion Strategy

Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 10th that it will launch a mobile game utilizing its own character Bellygom's intellectual property (IP). This is the first time a retailer has entered the gaming market using a character IP.

The mobile game released by Lotte Homeshopping is called "Bellygom Matchland." It reflects the puzzle game preferences of the 10-30 age group, which accounts for over 70% of Bellygom's social network service (SNS) subscribers, as well as Bellygom's worldview and character design.

The game is designed around a story where the user rebuilds the amusement park "Bellyland," which has closed due to lack of visitors, by playing a puzzle game. The company explained that it applies a "3-match puzzle" system where blocks of the same color disappear when three or more are matched, making it easy for anyone to enjoy.

Lotte Homeshopping's mobile game "Belligom Matchland" will make its debut in the UK next month. This is the first time a domestic distributor has challenged the gaming market by utilizing a character IP.
[Photo by Lotte Homeshopping]

Lotte Homeshopping plans to launch the game first in the UK next month, followed by releases in Thailand and Indonesia, and then officially launch it in the domestic market in September. The launch countries will later expand to Japan, Europe, and North America.

Previously, to release the Bellygom game, Lotte Homeshopping collaborated with the content IP startup "Makobil" for one year on concept planning, story setting, and game production. Founded in 2020, Makobil is a company with production capabilities across various fields such as games and animation.

The main character in the game, Bellygom, was first introduced in 2018 and gained recognition through YouTube activities. Since then, following a large-scale public exhibition in 2022, Bellygom expanded offline activities such as pop-ups and merchandise sales, growing into a leading domestic character with a fandom of 1.7 million.

Since 2022, Bellygom's cumulative sales from brand collaborations and merchandise sales have exceeded 20 billion KRW, and this year's sales are expected to grow by more than 20% compared to the previous year.

Lotte Homeshopping's challenge to the gaming market using Bellygom is part of Lotte Group's strategy to expand its content business. In addition to games, Lotte Homeshopping plans to strengthen IP competitiveness by opening a Bellygom experiential complex MD at Lotte World Adventure within this year.

Lee Bohyun, head of Lotte Homeshopping's content division, said, "Through various activities such as the game launch and the opening of the Lotte World experience space, we will approach citizens as a more familiar character."

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