SKT, SK Square invests $40 mn in Korea metaverse game firm

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and its spin-off SK Square Co. have together invested 50 billion won ($40 million) into a local metaverse game operator to enhance SKT’s metaverse platform and SK Square-led cryptocurrency.

SKT and SK Square said on Friday that they spent 25 billion won each to become the No. 3 shareholder in Heagin Co., which developed a metaverse game Play Together. Neither unveiled further details on the investment such as how many shares SKT and SK Square bought.

The simulation game that brings the metaverse to everyone has had 100 million downloads since April 2021 when it was launched. Its daily active users exceeded 2.5 million in the first quarter, far more than 80,000 of Naver Corp.’s Zepeto, Asia’s largest metaverse platform, according to industry estimates.

Haegin raised 100 billion won in Series B funding in February. Including the latest investment from SKT and SK Square, Haegin’s enterprise value was reportedly estimated at close to 1 trillion won, according to industry sources.

METAVERSE PUSH

SKT plans to add game functions to the artificial intelligence service of its metaverse platform ifland in cooperation with Haegin. The functions, which should make the gaming experience more enjoyable, are likely to entice users to use the AI service longer.

The telecom giant aims to upgrade the platform to allow the AI agent, a user’s digital avatar, to engage in economic activities on its own or on the metaverse.

They are set to cooperate in connection of the two different metaverses. They may share avatars or virtual spaces between ifland and Play Together platforms to hold joint events.

“In the mid- to long-term, it may be possible to link ifland and Play Together’s blockchain-based virtual economic systems,” said SK Square.

Last month, SKT said it has made an equity investment in Morph Interactive Co., a local three-dimensional graphics company, to accelerate its metaverse push.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.