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　　Zepeto, Asia's largest metaverse platform, has begun an internationalization strategy, preparing to compete with multinational technology giants.

　　Zepeto is owned by South Korean internet giant Naver, a metaverse platform born in 2018 that has already attracted 340 million users. In addition, the metaverse platforms on the market are mainly operated by game companies, focusing on game players, while Zepeto's user base is more of young girls.

　　Zepeto is a platform full of K-pop music, clothing fashion, and more. The platform, which has a capital valuation of up to $1 billion, has so far received investments from South Korean entertainment giants JYP, YG and Hebe, as well as Vision Fund II, which is run by SoftBank Group.

　　Ricky Kang, a business executive at Naver's "Naver Z" group, which operates the Zepeto platform, said that Zepeto still has a long way to go to become a global heavyweight metaverse platform. , but the company has now embarked on an international track.

　　Conlic said that in the Asia-Pacific region, Zepeto has established a strong influence and will continue to increase the number of users in the Asia-Pacific region in the future. In addition, the company also attaches great importance to the development of the US and Western European markets. Taking the French market as an example, Zepeto has already Obtained a high user growth rate.

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

　　A big background for Zepeto's internationalization strategy is that the two giants of the Metaverse, Meta and Microsoft, the parent company of Facebook, are investing heavily. They are betting 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 metaverse platform and currently has 15 million to 20 million monthly active users, mainly in South Korea, Japan and China. Of these active users, 70% are female gamers, most of whom are between the ages of 13 and 21.

　　There's still a big gap between Zepeto and US rival Roblox. Roblox has a market value of $50 billion and has 200 million monthly active users, many of whom are boys and girls.

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

　　Other metaverse rivals Conridge mentioned include online social platforms "Rec Room" and "VR Chat," as well as the well-known game "Fortnite."

　　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 is similar to TikTok or Instagram. It is actually a kind of information flow, but it only includes the content of virtual images or characters. It is also the first social network with virtual images as the core.

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

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

　　For corporate brands, Zepeto has adopted a licensing model, and they have partnered with many luxury and decorative brands, including Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Bulgari, Adidas, Nike, and more.

　　Players will also be able to purchase virtual Samsung Electronics home appliances and drive Hyundai cars.

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

　　One of Zepeto's core strengths, Conlic said, is its close relationship with K-pop culture companies.

　　Last year, the South Korean government established the Metaverse Alliance, which includes more than 200 companies and research institutions. In 2022, the South Korean government allocated about $8 billion to make the metaverse concept the country’s next digital technology transformation.

　　However, some analysts have also questioned whether the Zepeto platform is sustainable, arguing that its user base is too limited.

　　Choi Jun-chul, CEO of South Korea's "VIP Research and Management Company", said that Zepeto needs to expand its user base and get out of the current group of boys 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 interest is generally short-lived. On virtual platforms, teenage boys and girls will show off items they can't afford to buy in the real world, and it's questionable whether these teens will continue to use Zepeto as they get older.

　　Conlic also agrees that the age of teenage users is growing, and Zepeto needs to expand its user base.

　　He said that as Zepeto's users get older, the platform wants to grow with its users, a principle that applies to all major social networking platforms, including chat tool Snapchat and short video platform TikTok. These platforms generally start with teenagers and eventually become a service accepted by the general public.

　　According to reports, some academics in South Korea have raised concerns about the safety of Zepeto users on the platform. The threshold age for similar social platforms is 16 in the EU, 13 in many Asian countries, and even lower in some countries.

　　Earlier this month, Naver Z joined the global Tech Alliance, a group of member companies working to combat the sexual abuse and exploitation of young people online.

　　Regulating the Metaverse is difficult, Conrich said. The company uses artificial intelligence to target breaches and has also set up a call center where users can call for help, but bad actors in the Metaverse can easily evade these defense mechanisms. .

　　Wi Jong-hyun, a business professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said that Zepeto needs to take stricter and more practical measures in the regulation of the metaverse. In the metaverse, many teenage users confuse each other with beautiful avatars, and they are often shocked when uncomfortable behavior occurs, the professor said.