Zepeto, Asia‘s largest meta universe platform, started internationalization: it has attracted 340 million users, with a valuation of 1 billion dollars

Source: Sina Technology

    On the morning of September 28, it was reported that Zepeto, Asia‘s largest meta universe platform, had started its internationalization strategy and was ready to compete with transnational technology giants.

    Zepeto belongs to the South Korean Internet giant Naver, which was born in 2018 and has attracted 340 million users. In addition, the meta universe platform on the market is mainly operated by game companies, focusing on game players, while Zepeto‘s user base is more young girls.

    Zepeto platform is full of Korean pop music, fashion and other elements. The capital valuation of the platform is as high as US $1 billion. So far, it has received investment from Korean entertainment giants JYP, YG and Hebe. In addition, Vision Fund 2, which is managed by Softbank Group, has also invested.

    Aver‘s "Naver Z" group is responsible for the operation of Zepeto platform. Ricky Kang, an executive in charge of business of the group, said that Zepeto still has a long way to go to become a global and heavyweight meta universe platform, but the company has now embarked on an international track.

    Conridge said that Zepeto has established a strong influence in the Asia Pacific region and will continue to increase the number of users in the region in the future. In addition, the company also attaches great importance to the development of markets in the United States and Western Europe. Taking the French market as an example, Zepeto has achieved a high growth rate of users.

    The executive said that Zepeto is also popular in Brazil in South America. In addition, in order to enter the Internet market in the Middle East, the company is developing Turkish and Arabic versions.

    One of the big backgrounds for Zepeto to implement its internationalization strategy is that two giants of the meta universe, Facebook‘s parent company Meta and Microsoft, are investing heavily. They gamble that this three-dimensional world full of virtual images will become the next important technology platform.

    In the Asian market, Zepeto has become the largest meta universe platform, with 15 to 20 million monthly active users, mainly in South Korea, Japan and China. Of these active users, 70% are female players, most of whom are between the ages of 13 and 21.

     There is still a big gap between Zepeto and its American competitor Roblox. Roblox has a market value of up to 50 billion US dollars, with 200 million monthly active users, many of whom are young men and women.

    Conridge said that Zepeto has always attached importance to those players who buy virtual products. In the future, the virtual products or experiences that players buy will be more related to the personalized virtual world. This business model is very similar to Roblox.

    Other meta universe competitors mentioned by Conridge include online social networking platforms "Rec Room" and "VR Chat", as well as the well-known game "Fortress Night".

    The executive also emphasized that Zepeto is essentially a social network, not just a place where players can chat with each other while playing games.

    He said that Zepeto, similar to TikTok or Instagram, is actually an information flow that only includes virtual images or characters. It is also the first social network with virtual images as its core.

    Users access Zepeto mainly through mobile phone software. The main business model of the platform is to provide various commodities for users to design their own virtual images. The platform designs or trades countless virtual commodities every year, including clothes, costumes and hairstyles. Users can also create their own virtual worlds.

    On the platform, users can also purchase virtual household appliances and home decoration products to decorate their virtual rooms.

    For corporate brands, Zepeto has adopted an authorization model. They have established partnerships with many luxury brands and decoration brands, including Gucci, Lavlauren, Bulgari, Adidas, Nike, etc.

    Players can also buy virtual Samsung electronic household appliances and drive Korean Hyundai cars.

    Naver Z Group has also established IP partnerships with Disney, Universal Pictures and other companies in the United States. During the global new crown epidemic, the South Korean women‘s team Blackpink (represented by YG) held a signing ceremony on the Zepeto platform.

    Conridge said that one of Zepeto‘s core strengths is its close relationship with Korean pop music culture companies.

    Last year, the Korean government established the "Metacosmic Alliance", which includes more than 200 companies and research institutions. In 2022, the Korean government will allocate about US $8 billion to make the concept of meta universe the next digital technology transformation in South Korea.

    However, some analysts also questioned the sustainable development of Zepeto platform, believing that its user scale is really limited.

    Cui Junzhe, CEO of South Korea‘s "VIP Research and Management Company", said that Zepeto needs to expand its user base and go beyond the current group of young men and girls, as Facebook and Instagram have done in the past.

    Cui Junzhe said that the youth group is a very passionate user group, but their interests are generally transient. On the virtual platform, boys and girls will show off the goods that they cannot buy in the real world. As they grow older, it is doubtful whether these teenagers will continue to use Zepeto.

    Conridge also agreed that the age of young users is growing, and Zepeto also needs to expand its user base.

    He said that as Zepeto‘s users get older, the platform hopes to develop with them. This principle applies to all mainstream social network platforms, including the chat tool Snapchat and the short video platform TikTok. These platforms generally start from teenagers and finally become a service accepted by the general public.

    It is reported that some Korean scholars have raised concerns about the security of Zepeto users on the platform. In the European Union, the threshold age for similar social platforms is 16 years old, while in many Asian countries it is 13 years old. In some countries and regions, the age is even lower.

    At the beginning of this month, Naver Z joined the global "Science and Technology Alliance" organization, whose member enterprises are committed to combating indecent behavior towards teenagers on the Internet.

    Conridge said that it is very difficult to supervise the Metauniverse. The company uses artificial intelligence to lock out violations. In addition, it has set up a call center, where users can call for help. But the bad guys in the Metauniverse can easily escape these defense mechanisms.

    Wi Jong hyun, a business professor at South Korea‘s Central University (Seoul), said that Zepeto needed to take stricter and more practical measures to regulate the meta universe. The professor said that in the meta universe, many young users confuse each other with beautiful virtual images. Once uncomfortable behaviors occur, they are often shocked.