Hello, this is Realworld's Experience Trend Letter. Do you know what dramas like 'Reborn Rich,' 'D.P.,' 'Chicken Nugget,' and 'Moving' have in common? They're all based on webtoons or web novels.
The webtoon and web novel markets are growing steadily. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the domestic webtoon market was valued at approximately 1.829 trillion won in 2022, while the web novel market reached about 1.039 trillion won. It's too significant to dismiss as 'just something kids read' – these markets have already grown to an enormous scale worth trillions of won.
Interestingly, we can see fascinating patterns in IP media mix strategies. Let's take the modern fantasy web novel 'Solo Leveling' as an example. Following the success of the original web novel, it was adapted into a webtoon series and later released as a game in May 2024. Another popular web novel, 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint,' has also been adapted into an ongoing webtoon series and is set to be released as a film in 2025.
We're witnessing content evolve from text (web novels) to images (webtoons), then to video (animation, dramas, movies), and finally to games. What type of content will emerge next? Realworld anticipates the rise of playable experiential content that allows people to fully immerse themselves in IP worlds.
Experiential Content That Lets You Feel IP Universes
Let's look at a project case study from Realworld. In 2023, Realworld collaborated with Lotte Entertainment on a transmedia marketing project for the film 'Concrete Utopia.' This film was also based on the webtoon 'Pleasant Bullying.'
Realworld put considerable thought into how audiences could fully experience the world of 'Concrete Utopia,' resulting in both an online ARG and offline pop-up store. Players completed resident application missions on the 'Hwanggung Apartment' website, encountering information about the film and its characters. At the offline pop-up store, they engaged with side-story content different from the main film, making Hwanggung Apartment feel real.
This project was highly successful, attracting approximately 22,000 visitors to the online website and about 3,000 participants to the offline pop-up store campaign.
This trend aligns with the shift toward experience-based content consumption, characterized by 'interactive' and 'immersive' approaches. As we've covered in previous Experience Trend Letters, museums are also evolving notably. Even without original artworks, exhibitions featuring media art reinterpretations that make visitors feel like they're stepping into the artwork are gaining popularity.
Webtoons are making waves in pop-up stores, once thought to be exclusive to famous brands. The pop-up store for Naver Webtoon's popular series 'Garbage Time' earlier this year reportedly set the highest sales record among all pop-up stores ever held at Times Square. While selling merchandise online would be more efficient, the reason for opening pop-up stores to attract customers seems to be about providing content experiences for original fans.
The Emergence of Theme Parks Where You Become the Story's Protagonist
This movement is already taking off internationally. UK-based 'Secret Cinema,' which creates live shows using various IPs from films and games, has produced over 60 works and attracted more than 1 million audience members over the past 15 years. Recently, our UniqueGood team members visited 'Immersive Fort Tokyo,' which operates as the world's first immersive theme park.
'Immersive Fort Tokyo,' which opened in March 2024, features not only original content but also attractions based on popular animation and game IPs like 'Tokyo Revengers,' 'Oshi no Ko,' and 'Identity V.' While the costumed cast may still look somewhat awkward, there's room for improvement since it's still in its early stages.
IP is evolving into playable experiential content. For the trend-leading Zalpha (Z + Alpha) generation, who are digital natives raised in digital environments from birth, offline experiences feel like discovering a new continent. Therefore, we expect experiential content that engages all senses in offline spaces to continue growing.
Wouldn't it be exciting if Korea had such theme parks? Imagine theme parks where webtoon and web novel worlds come to life – doesn't that sound fascinating? Of course, high-quality content that doesn't rely solely on the popularity of original IP would be essential, but it could open new horizons for experiential content. We conclude this Experience Trend Letter with anticipation for new experiences where we can become protagonists in stories.