Number of S. Korean metaverse users plummets with easing of social distancing rules

The number of South Korean metaverse platform users has plunged after the easing of COVID-19 social distancing measures,

The number of weekly active users (WAU) for Roblox from May 9 to 15 stood at 773,678, down 17.8 percent from the previous week, marking a 10-month low since the last week of June 2021.

Last week’s per-capita usage hours averaged 150.32 minutes, the lowest in six months since the week of October 25 to 31 last year.

Meanwhile, the WAU for mobile-based metaverse platform Zepeto also declined last week to 133,708, the lowest since the first week of July 2021.

The overall weekly usage hours fell below 200,000 hours for the first time in ten months, reaching 190,961 hours.

Last week, the WAU of SK Telecom Co.'s virtual gathering platform ifland reached 105,292, a new low since the week of April 18 to 24 last month.

But Choi Jae-boong, a professor of mechanical engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, sees the metaverse ecosystem continuing to expand as the number of young people using the metaverse continues to increase/.