Com2Verse will offer a metaverse utopia, once it's finished

Tech

Published: 25 Aug. 2022, 15:59

Com2Verse will offer a metaverse utopia, once it's finished

Lee Kyung-il, CEO of Com2Verse, announces the company's plans for its Com2Verse metaverse service during a press conference held at Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [COM2US]

The Com2Verse metaverse will be a democratic world where users create and own their content and also make the rules that govern the virtual space, CEO of Com2Verse Lee Kyung-il said during a press conference on Thursday.

Com2Verse is the metaverse subsidiary of Kosdaq-listed Com2uS. A mockup was rolled out last December, and the company aims for a release next year, the CEO said.

“The definition of metaverse varies with every company and individual, but we at Com2Verse believe that it’s the next internet expressed in the 3-dimensional world,” Lee said.

“Everything that people do in real life must be possible in the metaverse. So like the internet, we plan to make it an open space where people establish their own workspace, have real jobs and enjoy the fruits of their creation.”

Lee defined Com2Verse as a “metaverse infrastructure” because the company intends to take the minimum amount of fees and operating rights.

Users will be given “citizenship rights,” which will grant them the power to establish regulations that govern the space through crypto-currency based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). The company’s earnings will come from “various projects” that were not specified by the CEO.

“The technical barriers to creating such a massive open world means that only companies that have developed 3-D massively-multiplayer online roleplaying games [MMORPG] can pull it off,” said Song Jae-joon, CEO of Com2uS.

“We not only have the technical capabilities to manage such a 3-D world, but also the content value chain with local companies to provide the content that users will want to enjoy. Lastly, we have the blockchain system to run the economic system.”

Song Jae-joon, CEO of Com2uS, gives a welcoming remark to local reporters during a press conference held at Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [COM2US]

Com2Verse will start by providing metaverse offices and event halls by the first quarter of next year. It will then allow local companies to engage in online commercial services on Com2Verse in the third quarter of 2023, aiming for public use by the first quarter of 2024.

Nine “islands,” or cities, will be created. Public users and companies will be able to purchase virtual real estate before the services officially kicks off.

Com2Verse says its metaverse will replicate every function available on the internet in the metaverse, contrary to existing services where avatars can only watch certain content or interact in limited spaces.

Users will be able to search for information, create and trade content, establish virtual offices and even sell the buildings they’ve made. Com2Verse will not have separate servers for different regions, but have a single server to include all global users.

Eleven local companies promised investment. On Tuesday, SK networks said it will invest 4 billion won ($3 million) in Com2Verse. Others, such as Hana Financial Group, Kyowon Group, Kyobo Bookstore and Doctor Now will join, but the investment amounts and stake have not been decided yet.

KT also recently decided to join, Lee said.

“We plan to look for foreign investors starting next year,” he said. “The companies who join earlier on will get the upper hand, such as better location for real estate and business opportunities. And we plan to attract new partners by this appealing to them with such benefits.”

Com2uS is Korea's seventh largest game company, excluding Tokyo-listed Nexon, with a market cap of 1 trillion won as of Thursday. It released its MMORPG Summoners War: Chronicle on Aug. 16, which became one of the top 10 earning mobile games on the Google Play Store a week later.

Its stock is down 62 percent from its 52-week high, while the stock of Com2uS Holdings, which owns 29.4 percent of Com2uS, is down 82 percent from its 52-week high.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]