South Korea’s top internet company Kakao and leading game developer Com2uS are downsizing their Metaverse teams after the virtual world platform recorded huge losses in the first half of 2023, local news agency Newsys reported.

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fast facts

• Com2uS is a leading US$536 million mobile game development company. revenue Newsis said the company recently cut headcount in its Metaverse division last year. Details of the layoffs have not been disclosed.
• The company’s Metaverse platform Com2Verse was officially released on August 1 of this year. However, the business unit supporting the Metaverse platform recorded an operating loss of approximately US$6.2 million in the first half of this year.
• Colorverse, another Metaverse company based in South Korea, implemented a series of layoffs earlier this year without disclosing details to the public. Colorverse, owned by Kakao’s gaming subsidiary Kakao Games and its affiliate Neptune, posted an $8.6 million loss last year.
• In July, CyTown, the metaverse revamp of the once hugely popular local social media service Cyworld, shut down after a year of service.virtual platform failed to attract User count only records around 10,000 downloads on the Google Play app store.
• According to a survey released in May by the Korea Information Society Development Research Institute, only 4.2% of South Koreans regularly use Metaverse services. The study’s broad interpretation of what constitutes a “metaverse” platform included popular games Minecraft, Roblox, and Animal Crossing.
• Metaverse pioneer Meta (formerly Facebook), whose Metaverse arm Reality Labs, posted a loss of US$13.7 billion.
• In February, 10 Japanese companies, including Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui, agreed to establish the Japan Metaverse Special Economic Zone, a working group to strengthen the region’s Metaverse infrastructure. The group has not made any further announcements regarding the project.
• On the other hand, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China Said On Monday, it announced it would seek to establish regulatory standards for the Metaverse in order to become a world leader in the field.
• Kakao and Com2uS have not yet responded to Forkast’s emailed requests for comment sent on Friday.

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