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Kakao Entertainment, the entertainment arm of South Korean internet company Kakao Corp., is ramping up its metaverse push with the launch of a new four-member virtual K-Pop girl group called MAVE.
Cacao launches stomach from January metaverse entertainment A joint venture with South Korean mobile game developer Netmarble. Metaverse Entertainment was founded in August 2021.
The members of the group are Siu, Zena, Tyra, and Marty, who appear as human-like avatars with natural movements and facial expressions.
Reuters Members can speak four languages: Korean, English, French, and Bahasa, but cannot respond to prompts and rely solely on human-written scripts.
Apart from MAVE, Metaverse Entertainment has also developed another virtual character. Linais described as a 22-year-old with a “freewheeling lifestyle who loves fashion and music and is passionate about what she loves”.
RINA is already 32,600 followers on Instagramwas launched on March 29, 2022 and has 2.3 million likes, 138,000 followers on TikTok.
At first glance, MAVE and RINA look so real that Internet users may be indistinguishable from humans.
“When I first saw Mave, I was a little confused as to whether they were human or virtual characters. My friends and I use the Metaverse platform a lot, so I feel like I could be a fan of them,” says Han, 19. Ms. Su-minSeoul Years Old, quoted by Reuters as they say.
MAVE’s debut single Pandora Released just two months ago, the track’s music video has already been racked up Over 20 million views On YouTube, the platform has over 172,000 subscribers.
The track has already generated over 20 million streams on Spotify alone.
Metaverse Entertainment said MAVE is “a K-meta idol who will create a new wave in the era of K-pop and the Metaverse”.
“MAVE: Four girls living in a futuristic world called IDYPIA, a utopia that everyone dreamed of. They travel to 2023 to regain their lost feelings,” says MAVE’s official website. increase.
“They embark on a journey to uncover the secrets hidden in IDYPIA, the perfect utopia that everyone has dreamed of, and regain the lost human emotions without hesitation or fear.”
Over a month ago, Kakao Entertainment announced the upcoming global release of MAVE-based webtoons on its global platforms.
The Webtoon will depict the MAVE universe and explore alternate realities, the company said.
The webtoon will be distributed in the first half of the year on Tapas in North America, Kakao Piccoma in Japan, and Kakao Webtoon in Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
Metaverse Entertainment claims to be a company that creates digital humans, manages virtual idols, and develops visual special effects.
MAVE was the JV’s first project, released in January of this year, suggesting it took Kakao and Netmarble over a year to develop the virtual K-Pop group.
Kakao invested 12 billion won. US$9.2 million) In Metaverse Entertainment, Reuters report.
Chu Ji-yeon, head of Metaverse Entertainment, told the press that MAVE is an “ongoing” project exploring new business opportunities and finding ways around technical challenges.
Metaverse Entertainment is just one of Kakao’s investments in the Metaverse space.
In June, Kakao launched Kakao Universe, a metaverse service that connects users who share the same interests around the world.
“We target 99% of the world’s users, so in the future KakaoTalk, which has been based on acquaintances, will connect people with similar interests. We decided to call the world of connected people ‘Kakao Universe’.” of Korea Times according to the words of the time.
Last week, Kakao Entertainment announced plans to expand in the U.S. and globally through Kakao Entertainment’s America division in partnership with Sony Music’s Columbia Records.
In South Korea, Kakao recently launched a tender offer to acquire up to 35% of SM Entertainment for approximately $960 million.% SM in February. (His SM rival HYBE has dropped out of the takeover offer, revealing on Friday, March 24 that it will sell his entire stake in SM worth $435 million.)
In January, Kakao Entertainment secured investment of 1.2 trillion South Korean won (approximately $966 million) from “major sovereign wealth funds.”
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