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South Korea’s top internet company Kakao and leading game developer Com2uS are sizing down their metaverse teams after large losses.

Socializing in a virtual world has been around for 20 years but remains a niche pursuit. Will AI and the new generation of digital natives make it mainstream?

McDonald’s Hong Kong has joined the likes of Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gucci and other global brands with Thursday’s launch of its own metaverse.

The value of crypto is typically tied to its correlation with fiat money. What if tokens can be earned only through good deeds and helping others?

China’s Zhejiang province, the home province of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group,has established a metaverse industrial association.

As stores of our identity, customs and creativity, NFTs will drive Web3 adoption and become central to the new digital economy, writes Yat Siu, executive chairman of Animoca Brands.

China Mobile, a leading telecommunication company of China, launched a metaverse alliance on Wednesday, whose members include Huawei, Xiaomi and Unity China. 

Shanghai on Wednesday released a three-year plan to build its culture and tourism metaverse.

In this week’s Forkast IQ with Megha Chaddah, we dive into the U.S. SEC’s crypto crackdown and the state of the East Asian metaverses.

The final story in a three-part series on Asia metaverse developments looks at China’s national strategy, which has seen dozens of cities and provinces release spending plans and training schemes to adopt this digital world in real-world industries. China’s initiatives, however, face challenges from regulation and global competition.

After a slow start, Japan’s development of a domestic metaverse is gaining pace. This second account in a three-part series asks: can the nation compete with rivals China and South Korea in building a 3D virtual world that – according to the promises – would open up new realms of economic prosperity and even potentially ease nagging social problems?

South Korea, China, Japan — East Asia’s three industrial powerhouses are taking their economic rivalry to the virtual world. Each is developing a domestic metaverse in a race to become the region’s industry leader. This first account in a three-part series takes a look at what’s happening in South Korea.

Jiangning, a district in China’s Nanjing city, released a metaverse plan on Saturday that includes training thousands of professionals for the industry.

Sebastien Borget of The Sandbox and Yehudah Petscher of Forkast Labs discuss the promise of the metaverse, the role of NFTs and the potential impact of Apple’s Vision Pro.

Apple’s Vision Pro VR is the new door to the metaverse. This headset may not be the first, but like CryptoPunks, it’s set to redefine how we see and use NFTs

Japan’s All Nippon Airways, or ANA Group, has launched a non-fungible token platform known as “ANA GranWhale NFT MarketPlace” to trade art and photograph collectibles through its metaverse subsidiary ANA NEO, the company tweeted on Thursday.

China’s Zhengzhou city issued a set of policy proposals Wednesday to support metaverse companies, including a 10 billion yuan (US$1.42 billion) metaverse fund.

China’s Nanjing City launched a state-backed organization on Monday to promote and enhance metaverse studies throughout the nation.

Only 4.2% of South Korean citizens have said that they regularly use metaverse services, a recent survey results show.

The metaverse is still a clunky world that makes users feel like they’re in a cartoon, writes Darin Myman of DatChat. How can we make it more inviting and useful?

Henan Cultural Tourism Investment Group, a state-owned investment enterprise in Central China’s Henan province, has set up a 150 million yuan private equity investment fund to finance metaverse ventures.

Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant is not moving away from its metaverse focus despite reporting repeated losses in the billions of dollars at its division dedicated to developing the virtual reality online world. 

The French government announced a public consultation on “virtual immersive universes,” or the metaverse.

Meta is investing heavily in artificial intelligence and this will benefit its metaverse businesses, Meta’s Andrew Bosworth told Nikkei Asia.

Entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Co. has reportedly scrapped its metaverse plans as part of its decision to lay off 7,000 employees and reduce US$5.5 billion in expenses. 

The conversation hasn’t died down, and the potential is still there. But what about the ambition?

South Korea is investing 27.7 billion Korean won (US$21 million) into local services looking to utilize the metaverse, the ministry of science announced Wednesday, following Tuesday’s news that it would establish a US$30 million metaverse fund to help startups expand their businesses. See related article: Japanese tech, finance firms sign pact to build metaverse economic […]

The metaverse has the potential to make the real world more just and inclusive, writes Sébastien Borget of The Sandbox. Here are the key ingredients for its future success.

About 10 Japanese companies, including Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo Mitsui, have agreed to advance Japan’s metaverse plans with the establishment of the “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone”.

China technology giant Tencent said its reshuffling staff in its metaverse unit, but denied it was being disbanded, as reported by local media.

Suzhou has laid out plans to attract at least 200 companies in working with VR technology by 2025.

Meta Platforms Inc., the former Facebook, said losses at its Reality Labs division developing virtual reality technologies widened last year, but the company’s Q4 earnings beat expectations and it projected overall stronger growth into 2023, according to its earnings report released Wednesday.

S. Korea’s capital city opened the first stage of ‘Metaverse Seoul’ on Monday, which it claims is the first city-backed public metaverse in the world.

Shanghai Two Sessions’ delegate urges stronger supervision in the metaverse industry, as metaverse fever continues.

Indian music composer A. R. Rahman, who won Best Original Score at the Oscars for the movie Slumdog Millionaire, has launched the ‘Katraar’ metaverse platform to promote new music creations and other art forms.

South Korea took a real shine to the metaverse in 2022, with the central government, regions and cities all interested in getting a piece of the virtual reality pie, despite criticism that the technology has a long way to go.

Japan-based game company Gumi has announced a business alliance with Square Enix SBI Holdings to grow its metaverse business.

India loves religious festivals, but are its citizens ready to attend such celebrations in virtual reality? An Indian startup reckons they are and launched its first effort this year, saying 20,000 avatars showed up.

South Korea’s Gyeongbuk Province plans to use the metaverse to expand economic and other relations with Vietnam.

Daesung’s venture capital subsidiary recently established a fund worth 110 billion Korean won (US$84.5 million) for expanding investments into metaverse startups.

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said that he remains optimistic about the future of the metaverse over a “five-to-ten-year horizon” despite widespread skepticism of his company’s venture into the technology.

Shinhan has opened a metaverse to provide financial and non-financial services, claiming to be the first bank in the country to provide such a platform.

Sony Japan unveiled Mocopi, a set of wearable motion-tracking sensors that captures user movements that are reflected by virtual avatars

South Korea’s science ministry released a guideline of core ethical principles for metaverse application participants.

The metaverse has the potential to improve access to opportunities and create a better version of the offline world. How do we prevent it from perpetuating society’s ills?

Companies based in the U.S. and South Korea have filed for more than 75% of patent applications related to the metaverse, VR and AR.

South Korea’s telecommunications giant SK Telecom (SKT) is launching its Ifland metaverse in 49 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Naver Z Corp. announced its partnership with INHOPE to protect youth from sexual abuse and exploitation on the virtual platform.

Meta shareholder Altimeter Capital’s CEO Brad Gerstner wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerberg suggesting a cut in headcount and in metaverse investments.

The international police organization Interpol has launched its own metaverse to assist law enforcement in protecting communities in virtual realms. The development comes after wanted Terraform Labs cofounder Do Kwon quietly slipped from Singapore to Dubai and possibly elsewhere. See related article: India police launch blockchain-based complaint portal on Polygon  Fast facts Interpol claims theirs […]

South Korea is mulling the uploading of headshots of sex offenders rendered on the three-dimensional metaverse, to help the public identify offenders, said Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook on Tuesday in a local radio interview. See related article: S.Korea’s science ministry announces ethical principles for the metaverse Fast facts Kim mentioned the […]

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based video game company, announced a recruitment effort for 13 new positions to integrate its game titles with Web3 and metaverse technologies. See related article: NFTs may be the next killer app for video games, but some traditional players object Fast facts The game developer is planning to launch […]

Meta Platforms Inc.’s internal documents show the company’s metaverse platform Horizon Worlds is underperforming in terms of attracting and maintaining users, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Saturday. See related article: Meta’s attempts at building a metaverse will ‘misfire’: Vitalik Buterin Fast facts Meta’s initial goal was to gather 500,000 monthly active users (MAU) on […]

Cool Cats Group LLC, the Web3 company behind the cartoon feline-based NFT collection Cool Cats, announced Thursday that it had received a strategic investment and partnership from Animoca Brands, owner of the metaverse platform The Sandbox.  See related article: Asus launches NFT platform to plug into Web 3.0 Fast facts In a tweet, Cool Cats’ […]

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced plans to expand investments in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse in a policy speech on Monday. See related article: Japan plans new crypto transfer rules to combat money laundering Fast facts Kishida says the country will further its investment in digital transformation and expand the use of Web3 […]

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple Inc., said in a recent interview that augmented reality (AR) will become the biggest technology of the future, while he devalued metaverse and virtual reality (VR) technology. See related article: The metaverse is already here. What’s holding back the party? Fast facts “I think AR is a profound […]

Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, is opening a virtual space on Naver Z’s Zepeto metaverse at 12 p.m. on Friday, Korea time, to promote the city in efforts to host the World Expo in 2030. See related article: South Korea’s Busan city wants to be blockchain central. Did everyone get the memo? Fast facts The […]

Where does money fit into the future of the internet? We take a closer look as DBS plans to buy land in the metaverse.

Changwon is the latest addition to South Korea’s growing list of cities seeking a presence in the metaverse, signaling the country’s adoption of Web3.

Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology has renamed its 25-year-old Information Engineering Department as the Metaverse Engineering Department. The university says it’s the first in China to offer a metaverse major, according to a local media report. See related article: South Korea and Meta to ramp up metaverse safety  Fast facts See related article: […]

J-pop is increasing ties with immersive metaverse technology, with Japan’s top record producer Akimoto recently announcing his ambitious virtual idol project.

South Korea’s official media regulation agency met with Andy O’Connell, vice president of product policy and strategy of Meta Platforms, Inc. on Monday to discuss ways to boost user protection on the metaverse. See related article: South Korea will not rule the metaverse with game laws, science ministry says Fast facts Ahn Hyoung-hwan, the vice […]

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands Corp. Ltd., the Hong Kong-based game software and venture capital company, will be taking its Hong Kong metaverse strategy to a new market in Dubai, launching a “Dubaiverse,” the company said at the 62nd edition of the True Global Ventures Conference on Thursday.  Animoca Brand’s Dubai-themed metaverse will […]

South Korea will issue a guideline for regulating the metaverse instead of applying existing law on video games, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced at a government briefing on Wednesday. See related article: S.Korea’s science ministry announces ethical principles for the metaverse Fast facts The guideline that will be used to better promote […]

South Korea’s Cytown Metaverse is holding a virtual poll and discussion on the topic of giving the members of K-pop megagroup BTS a special exemption from the country’s mandatory military service. See related article: Google approves South Korea’s Cyworld metaverse app Fast facts Cytown opened a public poll on the topic in Cy-agora, the virtual […]

A South Korean man in his 30s was recently sentenced to four years in prison after producing and storing sexually exploitative content involving minors he lured on the metaverse. See related article: South Korea struggles to prevent sexual harassment of minors in the metaverse Fast facts The man, whose identity was not made public, had […]

Interoperability is a key characteristic for the metaverse to be useful, writes Dr. Dimitry Mihaylov of National Univ. of Singapore. But the technology and laws are still lacking.

The Singapore-based bank said it will buy land in the metaverse to create the ‘DBS BetterWorld’ and build a virtual community.

The Ifland metaverse, run by South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom (SKT), is allowing users to earn money by hosting meetups in the virtual world, the company announced Monday. See related article: South Korea’s Ifland metaverse dives into play-to-earn Fast facts SKT has adopted an “ifland point” system to usher in its metaverse economy — […]

MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation), one of South Korea’s four national television and radio networks, has signed a business partnership with Hong Kong-based metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, according to its announcement on Friday. See related article: Netflix Sweet Home producer to build K-drama metaverse in the Sandbox Fast facts MBC will create its emblematic Sangam […]

China should issue a digital yuan-collateral stablecoin to establish an on-chain payment system for China’s metaverse, as the infrastructure developed by China itself is the key to ensuring national security, said influential academic Zhang Ping of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, an institution providing policy consultation to the Chinese State Council. See related article: Naver’s […]

Naver Z, the operator of South Korea-based Zepeto metaverse, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Thai telecommunications and digital services provider True Corporation to grow Thailand’s metaverse ecosystem. See related article: Naver’s Zepeto metaverse starts blockchain initiative with Solana Fast facts Utilizing Zepeto as a platform, True will provide future-oriented, online-to-offline experience that […]