Korea's big corporations find little enthusiasm in the metaverse

Industry

Published: 25 Jul. 2022, 18:08 Updated: 25 Jul. 2022, 19:21

Korea's big corporations find little enthusiasm in the metaverse

Samsung Electronics debuted Samsung Space Tycoon on July 12 in Roblox. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor have entered the metaverse, creating worlds where customers can virtually use and create their products.

Problem is, most of the metaverse users are teenagers, and they are just not in the market for what these two companies are selling.

Samsung Electronics opened Samsung Space Tycoon on July 12, a virtual playground built in Roblox, a metaverse created by San Mateo, California's Roblox Corporation.

Samsung Space Tycoon is a simple online game where players can purchase an item after acquiring resources in the virtual world and create products, such as smartphones and home appliances.

Despite introducing the game in the global metaverse space, the number of active users was 500 on July 22. This is a sharp drop from 2,500 on the debut day.

Active users of Hyundai Motor's Hyundai Mobility adventure was 30 on July 22. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hyundai Motor introduced Hyundai Mobility Adventure last September, also on Roblox. Users can virtually meet and experience Hyundai Motor mobility offerings, but it's just not catching on.

Popular games on Roblox usually maintain a minimum of 100,000 active users. Brook Haven has 410,000 active users and a total of 20.5 billion visits.

In the United States, more than half the users are minors.

"My friends and I always play the same game on Roblox," said Kim Yoon-mo, a third-grade student at an elementary student in Seoul.

"I have never seen any friend who plays at virtual worlds created by companies like Nike and Samsung Electronics."

The metaverse marketing strategy is not working so well, but companies in Korea are expected to continue their journey in the virtual world to recruit more potential users.

"Companies introducing games on Roblox for marketing purposes should be understood as the process of companies figuring out how to appeal to the consumers more effectively in the virtual world," said Kim Tae-gyu, a game studies professor at KwangWoon University.

"The average age range of active users of Roblox is 13 to 14, so their spending power is not too big," said Lee Sang-heon, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities. "This should be seen as a testbed for companies to see how they could use metaverse as a marketing tool in the future."

BY LEE DONG-HYUN [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]