Com2uS announces plans to build real-life-like metaverse platform

South Korea’s Com2uS Studios, the creator of the popular game Summoners War, said on Thursday it will unveil a real-life-like metaverse platform next year, setting it apart from the existing entertainment-focused virtual space.

KT Corp., a leading telecom and internet services provider, has joined the gaming startup to develop the metaverse space. The move hints at the telecom giant dropping a plan to pursue the metaverse business on its own, according to industry watchers.

Com2uS said that its large server capacity built to simultaneously offer high-resolution graphics to a greater number of gamers as well as online world business experience will make it a competitive player in the metaverse.

It will showcase the virtual world platform for corporate users in the first quarter of next year. In the platform, companies will be able to set up virtual offices, conference halls and convention centers from the third quarter of next year.

Before launching the service, Com2uS will sell virtual land to companies and individuals at fixed prices through non-fungible tokens. The real estate in the metaverse will be freely tradable between companies and individuals in virtual secondary markets.

Com2uS hopes its metaverse platform will replace real-life spaces such as movie theaters, banks and department stores. It plans to extend the service to individual and small business owners from the first quarter of 2024.

In South Korea, SK Telecom’s iFland and Naver’s Zepeto have secured their presence in the metaverse space. But they serve fewer than 200 people at a time due to their limited data handling capacity.

Early this week, SK Group's trading arm SK Networks Co. agreed to participate in the Com2uS-led metaverse alliance to jointly develop the virtual world platform. To that end, it will invest 4 billion won ($3 million) in Com2Verse, a metaverse development platform.

Last year, Kosdaq-listed Com2uS announced a plan to pour 1 trillion won ($750 million) into its metaverse business, which involves visual effects (VFX) technologies, virtual reality and intellectual properties.

As part of the efforts, it invested a combined 500 billion won last year to buy stakes in metaverse-related and web content companies.

It acquired the management rights of WYSIWYG Studios Co. for 161 billion won in its largest-ever single investment. WYSIWYG is a metaverse company that specializes in visual effects (VFX) technologies and creates video content.

Two other investments included a stake in Mstoryhub, a webtoon platform and The Sandbox, a blockchain gaming developer.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article