‘Fort Knight’ gamers enjoying the BTS stage
On September 25 last year, BTS released the choreography video of their new song’Dynamite’ for the first time. The stage they chose was not a music broadcast or a video platform such as YouTube, but a third-person action shooting (TPS) game’Fort Knight’. Users who attended the stage enjoyed the event by dancing or sharing their impressions.
Global singers who released new songs or held concerts through Fortnite include Travis Scott, Young Serge, and Noah Cyrus. Travis Scott’s game concert was attended by 12.3 million users as spectators. This is a case in which games are transforming into a’metabus’ industry, a new alternative reality that embodies various social actions that can be enjoyed in reality, beyond simply achieving competition or goals between users. The metaverse, which blends meta and universe, has emerged as an investment theme in capital markets that are sensitive to changing trends. Companies that provide metaverse services directly, such as Roblox and Tencent Music, as well as companies that manufacture related devices or provide technology infrastructure, are increasing their corporate value.
○ The Metaverse platform is preoccupied by Game Entertainment
‘Roblox’, a game that implements virtual reality
Roblox, a game company listed on the New York Stock Exchange on the 10th, is standing at the center of the MZ generation (millennial + generation Z) metaverse craze. Roblox is a kind of platform game that users can create, exchange, and use their own games. All transactions in the game are carried out through a cryptocurrency called Robux. Roblox has gained great popularity among young gamers under the age of 19, whose time spent playing games has skyrocketed due to Corona 19. According to Roblox’s announcement, as of the third quarter of last year, 36.2 million users played games every day, and 150 million users played games at least once a month. Reflecting the interest of investors, Roblox turned from IPO, which is highly volatile, to direct listing. This is a method of omitting the procedure for allocating to an institution through the listing organizer. Roblox’s enterprise value, as predicted by Renaissance Capital, is $29 billion, which is 31 times more than last year’s sales.
Entertainment company Tencent Music is also investing in the metaverse field. Tencent Music bought a stake in’Wave’, an American virtual concert company in November last year. Wave has been recognized for its technology in the field by hosting online concerts by famous singers such as John Legend and Lindsay Sterling. After investing in Wave, Tencent Music plans to use the wave platform and technology in its TME live platform. Tencent Music’s stock price soared 74.31% in about five months after the investment in Wave.
○ Invest in the Metaverse Value Chain
Experts emphasize that the popularity of metaverse games and services is not a one-off boost from Corona 19. Lee Byung-hwa, a researcher at KB Securities, said, “Travis Scott made about 1.8 billion won through the tour in 2019, and it is known that the income obtained through the Fortnite concert reached 21.6 billion won.” The metaverse industry that can generate sales will be a megatrend.”
When investing in the metaverse industry, as investing in not only Tesla and other automakers, but also rechargeable batteries, various parts, and core material companies to invest in electric vehicle themes, it goes beyond investing in a single game or service to each stage of the value chain. You can invest in companies that are there. Korea Investment & Securities recommended Roblox, Unity Software, Microsoft, Facebook, Sony, Tencent Music, and Alibaba as key companies in the Metaverse investment portfolio. Unity Software is a maker of Unity game engines that 42% of the world’s mobile games use for development. Facebook is the parent company of Oculus, a virtual reality (VR) device manufacturer, and Microsoft, along with Roblox, owns’Minecraft’, the two major mountains of metaverse games.
■ Metaverse
A compound word of meta and the real world. It refers to a platform through which users can freely trade or create mutual goods through games, programs, and apps. In the past, games focused on the user adapting well according to the rules provided by the game company. In the metaverse, the user decides the rules of the game and the game currency can be used in reality. Users can create value as in reality and receive rewards accordingly.
Reporter Jeon Beomjin [email protected]