Hello. This is Realworld's Experience Trend Letter. We've recently heard some exciting news. Webtoon Entertainment, a company established by Naver Webtoon to target the North American market, went public on NASDAQ on June 27th (local time). At the time of writing this letter, its market capitalization reaches approximately $2.759 billion (about 3.8317 trillion won). It's fascinating to see Korean webtoons entering the North American market dominated by comics, and it really shows the popularity of K-content.
The goal of Webtoon Entertainment's parent company, Naver Webtoon, is reportedly to become 'Asia's Disney.' As this suggests, Naver Webtoon's ultimate goal can be seen as creating a theme park filled with Naver Webtoon IPs, much like Disneyland. They also plan to utilize webtoon IPs across various areas including movies and dramas.
However, when Realworld looks at the webtoon market, we think: 'It would be interesting if we could bring webtoons into the murder mystery market.' We've been imagining webtoons becoming playable and considering the potential intersection with murder mystery.
The Murder Mystery Market Growing as Much as Webtoons
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the domestic webtoon market size reached approximately 1.829 trillion won as of 2022. Market research firm Market Growth Report states that the global webtoon market size was around $3.9 billion (approximately 5.2 trillion won) in 2022. However, the murder mystery market is also growing just as much as webtoons.
Murder Mystery genre games are a type of detective game where multiple players take on different roles to solve specific cases. These murder mystery games are called Jubensha (劇本殺, written as Script kill or Jubensha in English) in China, and the Chinese market is worth noting.
According to the report '2022年中国剧本杀行业产业链分析 (2022 China Murder Mystery Game Industry Value Chain),' China's Jubensha market size was estimated at 20 billion yuan (approximately 3.8 trillion won) in 2021, with about 30,000 offline Jubensha stores and approximately 9.41 million consumers. Although growth rates and offline store numbers decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears to maintain its popularity.
China's Jubensha industry has a systematic value chain. Once Jubensha scripts are completed, they're delivered to consumers through online/offline distribution networks. However, the role of IP owners positioned upstream in the value chain is also crucial - famous IPs can help with content success based on their strong fanbase. That's why Jubensha often collaborates with various IPs. Interestingly, in 2022, there was even a case where a Jubensha kit was produced in collaboration with cosmetics brand 'Estée Lauder.' This shows China's love for Jubensha.
Comparing Webtoon and Murder Mystery Consumers
Customers in the webtoon market and murder mystery market show both similarities and differences. The webtoon market covers a broader age range, with Naver Webtoon showing the highest proportion of users in their teens and twenties. Looking at customers of Korea's first murder mystery cafe 'Realworld Clue Seongsu,' women make up an overwhelming majority, with an average age of 27. We can find common ground in that both are content enjoyed by younger demographics.
Looking at webtoon payment behavior, about 68% of webtoon users have paid subscription experience, spending an average of about 12,000 won monthly. However, we should consider the influence of heavy users who spend much more than average, and that over 60% of users spend less than 5,000 won monthly.
For murder mystery games, we referenced Chinese Jubensha market data to understand return visit rates. As of 2021, 85% of customers played games more than twice within six months, with 30% playing up to 12 times, showing remarkably high popularity.
Murder mystery games are characterized by higher prices due to their offline nature. From a business perspective, when 4-5 people enjoy content priced at 20,000-25,000 won per person in one location, it generates about 100,000 won in revenue per session (approximately 2 hours). If F&B and other additional elements are introduced, the average spending per customer could be increased further.
Murder Mystery Expansion Strategy Using Idle Spaces
Unlike webtoons, which are online content, murder mystery requires physical spaces for experiences. Stores need to be located in high-traffic areas for customer accessibility, but costs cannot be ignored. Therefore, minimizing overhead costs while securing stores in as many locations as possible is key.
Fortunately, murder mystery doesn't require large spaces or fancy interiors to secure locations. For example, just as some karaoke rooms converted to study rooms when business was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, converting karaoke rooms scattered throughout urban areas into murder mystery cafes could secure spaces while minimizing interior costs. Isn't it amazing that idle urban spaces can transform into murder mystery cafes?
What If Webtoons Became Playable?
Beyond movies and dramas, games utilizing webtoon IPs are also emerging. They become themes for offline escape room games or are made into board games. However, most cases are temporary or fail to cover various regions. We wonder what it would be like if murder mystery games utilizing webtoon IPs were created. If people could experience becoming protagonists in attractive stories without traveling far, we think it could establish itself as a new leisure culture.
The Emergence of K-Content That Will Be Loved Worldwide
What's interesting is that K-content has played a major role in the spread of both webtoons and murder mystery. Korean webtoons have entered and shaken up markets dominated by American comics and Japanese manga, and Korea's variety show 'Crime Scene' was remade in China, influencing the Jubensha boom.
Recently, Realworld has been communicating with companies and investors from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries to explore overseas market development possibilities. The results are very encouraging. Ten VCs from Singapore plan to visit and examine Realworld's business model, including murder mystery. We're grateful that they recognize Realworld's potential and are working hard to increase our chances of success.
Murder mystery games have become an industry in Asia, including China and Japan, and the market is growing domestically with Realworld leading the way. Realworld believes we can create an ecosystem for murder mystery games by digitalizing content production and distribution, and quickly converting existing idle spaces like karaoke rooms and board game cafes. In fact, Realworld has completed experiments in Seongsu and is currently expanding to additional locations like Konkuk University area. We hope you'll keep an interested eye on Realworld's progress, and with that, we conclude this Experience Trend Letter.