[Edaily Marketin Song Seung-Hyeon Reporter] Naver Webtoon has entered the “AI character chat” market. Amid recent active investment in this market by the domestic venture capital (VC) industry, the landscape has shifted as South Korea’s largest holder of webtoon intellectual property (IP) has chosen to operate the service directly rather than simply granting licenses.

According to the VC industry on the 3rd, Naver Webtoon officially launched its AI story chat service, “byUs,” on July 1. The service uses only official IP approved by the original creators, allowing users to expand the webtoon’s universe through conversations with a chatbot. “Character Chat,” launched in 2024, has recorded 6 million cumulative visitors and 230 million cumulative messages, with 78% of its users in their teens and twenties.

AI character chat is a service that allows users to interact with chatbots modeled after webtoon protagonists or characters they create themselves. Since the structure is designed so that relationships and stories unfold as conversations accumulate, the user base is growing, particularly among teens and young adults.

Venture capital firms are also lining up to invest in this emerging market. ID Ventures and Kona Venture Partners, among others, invested 4.3 billion won this year in a Series A round for Warp Space, the operator of “CaveDuck,” while Krit Ventures invested 2 billion won in Bunker Kids, the operator of “Wip,” last July. Bunker Kids alone raised 15 billion won in its Series A round. Additionally, Scatter Lab secured a 50 billion won Series D round last June, while Ryuten Technologies raised 100 billion won in a Series C round on the 26th of last month, valuing the company at 1 trillion won.

The venture capital industry is closely watching Naver Webtoon’s entry into the character chat market. The key point of interest for the industry is not the “size of the capital” but “where the narrative is created.” Naver Webtoon’s model is based on pre-existing webtoon narratives. The original universe and characters are already established, and users expand the story within that framework.

In contrast, services like Scatter Lab’s “Zeta” and Ruten Technologies’ “Crack”—even when they incorporate a format and character settings—allow users to create the narrative themselves by building upon their conversations. While categories such as romance fantasy, school stories, and martial arts are provided, the ending is not predetermined.

This difference determines where revenue is generated. Naver Webtoon operates on a model where chat usage drives consumption of the original work. An analysis of users of the character chat for the webtoon “Byeol-i-sam Shop,” featuring Seol Hyo-rim, showed that in the week following its launch, the number of views of the original work increased by 97% compared to the previous week, and payment volume rose by 44%. In essence, the chat functioned not as a revenue source in itself, but as a gateway to boost IP consumption.

In contrast, Zeta and Crack generate revenue entirely through in-chat purchases of virtual goods. Zeta has posted profits for three consecutive quarters with an operating profit margin of 17%, and Wip is also showing strong growth, with average monthly spending increasing by 110% just nine months after launch.

Consequently, the evaluation criteria for existing character chats and Naver Webtoon’s chat are expected to differ. Platforms where users create the narrative are evaluated based on monthly active users (MAU), session duration, and payment volume. Conversely, for platforms built on a pre-established narrative, the key performance indicator is the extent to which chat usage drives views of the original work and subsequent payments. Although they are grouped under the same “character chat” category, they operate under different evaluation metrics.

The key question is to what extent a pre-established narrative can match the level of immersion offered by user-generated stories. While a fixed universe can directly draw in the original fandom, it’s difficult to replicate the engagement time generated when users become engrossed by altering the ending themselves. Conversely, user-generated content creates immersion but fails to accumulate the original IP as an asset. Ultimately, success or failure will likely hinge on where users choose to spend their time.

A venture capital industry insider stated, “Until now, value has been determined by how long users can be retained,” adding, “The new benchmark will be how well those with a pre-established narrative can replicate that level of immersion.”