Kakao Ent to make audition show “RE:VERSE” to debut a virtual girl group. Netizens raise doubts about its success rate
Kakao Ent. is making a new entertainment show using metaverse technology called “RE:VERSE”. Will it become a hit as they expect?
Kakao Entertainment recently announced that they would launch the new entertainment program “RE:VERSE” next month. “RE:VERSE” is a survival entertainment program in which 30 members of the existing K-pop girl groups compete to debut as a five-member virtual idol group.
The system of competing to be selected for the final debut group reminds us of the existing audition programs, but due to the nature of the virtual avatar concept, the contestants will compete with only their skills and hide their real names and identities. In short, “RE:VERSE” distinguish itself from other survival shows as it is built with the format called ‘competition between virtual avatars’.
However, it is hard to predict the success rate of “RE:VERSE”, which focuses on virtual avatars only. This is because there have been many entertainment shows that announced ambitious starts by putting virtual avatars or metaverse technologies at the forefront but recorded poor performances. While there is little sign of a rebound from low topic performance to 0% viewer ratings, the public continues to doubt virtual avatar entertainment programs.
The biggest reason for this situation was the realization of virtual avatars, which were overshadowed by huge production costs.
Most of the virtual avatar entertainment programs aimed at a stage where metaverse technology was realized by adopting the method of real-time rendering actual singers’ movements into movements of virtual avatars on the stage, but the result the public saw was nothing more than outdated avatars. Along with the rapid development of metaverse technology and the remarkable improvement in the completeness of virtual avatars in various fields, the visual of virtual avatars that rarely keep up with the times have not stimulated the public’s taste.
“RE:VERSE” also faced various evaluations from the public as it has been releasing several contents ahead of the first broadcast. Some said that the survival entertainment format for the launch of the virtual girl group was fresh, but many others expressed regrets about the 2D-like avatars on this show when there are more programs that have virtual avatars with high completeness. In fact, considering the ambition to launch a virtual girl group in the future, it is questionable how they will make themselves stand out in the current virtual avatar market with such old-fashioned 2D avatar-level technology.
Of course, there are still some points to look forward to. One of them is the presence of 30 girl group members who are trying to debut in a virtual group. Based on the videos released so far, fans are guessing the identity of the 30 contestants. As most of the characters mentioned amid various speculations are members of popular girl groups active in the K-pop market, it is highly likely that many fandoms will pay attention to the program. This makes “RE:VERSE” quite different from the other virtual programs that failed in securing a fixed amount of viewers.
“RE:VERSE”, which has announced its start in earnest by releasing various contents even before the first broadcast, will premiere on the 28th of next month. It is still too early to guess whether this new show will succeed and put an end to the low-performing history of virtual avatar entertainment programs.
Source: daum
