Shinsegae to enter metaverse with help from Hancom

Shinsegae Department Store's branch in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [SHINSEGAE]

Shinsegae plans to make its own metaverse service with tech company Hancom, and announced its intention to invest in a stake in the company.

Shinsegae said it will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hancom on Friday.

Hancom will develop the metaverse platform service, and Shinsegae will come up with various content to enjoy on the metaverse.

Hancom also developed Cytown, a to-be-launched metaverse application for Cyworld, a social network site.

Shinsegae and Hancom will create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of various products that can be traded in the virtual world. Shinsegae runs department stores and duty-free shops.

The department store company will also invest in Hancom, acquiring a certain stake, although specific plans were not detailed.

Before Shinsegae’s own metaverse service comes to life, the company plans to host various events on other metaverse applications.

Starting in July, it will host three-week classes that teach users art history, drawing, and basics of NFTs on ZEP, a metaverse application run by Naver Z and game publisher Supercat.

Shinsegae’s investment in the metaverse follows its retail rivals also tapping into the new market.

Lotte Department Store signed an MOU with VAIVcompany in November last year, also aiming to develop a metaverse service. The department store will showcase and sell products sold at its branches in the virtual world.

"Following the partnership with Shinsegae, the metaverse will become one of Hancom's main growth engines," said Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Hancom. "We plan to provide a unique experience to users by combining Hancom's metaverse-related capabilities and Shinsegae's content power, also gaining a lead in the growing metaverse market."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]