Lotte World Adventure, one of the most popular South Korean amusement parks, is opening a virtual replica on Naver’s Zepeto metaverse.
Fast facts
- Lotte World Adventure constructed “Magic Island,” its outdoor section of the park, onto the Zepeto metaverse, which opens tonight at 6 p.m. Korea time. Upon entering the Lotte World map on the Zepeto app, users can experience its classic attractions such as the landmark Magic Castle, and thrill rides Gyro Drop and the Atlantis Adventure roller coaster. The opening of the Lotte World metaverse will be Halloween-themed, with zombie-fied avatars roaming around the map greeting visitors.
- Lotte World says “the park will grow more popular in the virtual space as a new hotspot for millennials and generation Z users,” adding the park will continue to diversify business areas by utilizing its existing characters and other content.
- Zepeto, which was launched in 2018 by Korea’s internet giant Naver, currently has more than 200 million users globally, centering around teenagers. It has collaborated with various global brands to diversify its user contents, such as Disney, Gucci, Nike, Hello Kitty and others.
- Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of South Korea has designated the metaverse as one of the five new industries of the future that has growth potential and high market demand, along with blockchain, intelligent robots, cloud computing technology and digital healthcare. Financial companies in Korea also are increasingly involved in the metaverse, with Samsung Asset Management and KB Asset Management releasing metaverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recently.