The entry of platform and content providers into South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) character chat market continues to grow. Following Naver Webtoon and One Store, Lezhin Entertainment is also joining the fray. Conversations with AI characters are increasingly being consumed as standalone content and games, emerging as a new revenue stream for the AI service industry.
According to industry sources, Lezhin Entertainment plans to launch its AI character chat service 'Tease' on October 19, based on webtoon intellectual property (IP). This follows the launches of Naver Webtoon’s 'Bias' in July and One Store’s 'One Chat' in September, as companies with unique IPs in webtoons and app markets continue to enter the space.
AI character chat services allow users to engage in conversations with virtual characters powered by AI, forming relationships and creating stories. As generative AI technology advances, it has become possible to bring characters from virtual worlds into reality. The ability to create different narratives based on user input is a key factor in their popularity.
Lezhin's 'Tease' will utilize official webtoon IPs, starting with select works from Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, and will gradually expand the range of participating IPs and the freedom of conversation. Participating authors will also create character illustrations used in 'Tease'.
Naver Webtoon launched its AI story chat 'Bias' in July, allowing users to converse with original characters or set new scenarios to develop stories. One Store introduced its AI character chat 'One Chat' in September, implementing a paid model using dedicated currency.
Companies quickly entering the AI character chat market are experiencing explosive growth. According to Mobile Index, the monthly active users (MAU) of Scatter Lab's AI character chat Zeta surged from 62,456 in January 2024 to 1,586,178 in August this year, an increase of about 25 times. Compared to 721,434 users in January last year, this marks more than a twofold increase in just 19 months. Lutten's Crack also saw its user base grow from 218,050 in April last year to 538,841 in August this year, a rise of approximately 2.5 times.
With the emergence of businesses utilizing official IPs with the consent of original creators, such as Naver Webtoon and Lezhin, the content utilization and business models for AI character chats are expected to diversify further.
As the market expands, the importance of protecting youth and managing content is also increasing. Concerns have been raised about excessive immersion in ongoing conversations with AI characters, exposure to inappropriate or violent content, and excessive payments.
Recently, Lutten announced a policy to limit Crack usage for minors to a maximum of three hours per day and a monthly payment cap of 100,000 won. If these limits are exceeded, parental verification and consent will be required. This policy is set to be implemented after system updates early next year. Scatter Lab also plans to set a basic usage time of three hours and a payment limit of 100,000 won for youth users of Zeta.
Lezhin plans to apply age-specific content management standards upon the service's launch. Initially, it will focus on adult IPs, requiring age verification for conversations with characters, and will gradually add characters suitable for all ages, providing content tailored to different age groups.
A representative from Lezhin Entertainment stated, “Initially, we will operate the service within the bounds of preserving the original story of the works, and in the future, we plan to expand the freedom for users to actively engage in chatting.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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