Despite a successful launch of the previous avatar, the company’s shares have fallen 44% from their record high as the nation tightens regulation on Metaverse
Blue Universe (Chinese: 蓝色宇宙), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese digital marketing firm BlueFocus Communication Group (300058) (Chinese: 蓝色光标), released on March 8 a virtual human named “K” as part of the company’s Metaverse strategy.
K is a virtual musician with a motto of “Every girl can be her own King.”
Prior to this move, BlueFocus had launched its first avatar “Su Xiaomei” on the first day of 2022, who “performed” in this year’s Spring Festival Gala on Beijing Radio & Television Station (BRTV).
Blue Universe is established specially for the investment and other businesses concerning Metaverse, a futuristic notion of virtual environments where users can work, socialize, and play.
Its parent BlueFocus seeks to tap the budding virtual intellectual property market with a budget of over CNY 1 billion (USD 158.3 million) , to be spent on virtual livestream technologies, virtual human beings, virtual space, and blockchain technologies.
The company told the media that a virtual livestreaming service run in collaboration with Alibaba Damo Academy had sold 34 virtual rooms at CNY 99,000 each by November 2021. Buyers are mostly top companies in China across various industries ranging from beauty to household cleaning, from healthcare to consumer electronics.
BlueFocus reported a revenue of CNY 31.483 billion in the first three quarters of 2021, up 9.1% year on year. It also posted a net profit attributable to equity holders after non-recurring profit and loss of CNY 594 million, registering a year-on-year growth of 30.1%.
The company’s shares surged to CNY 12.88 apiece on January 4, hitting its record high in six years.
However, amid the clamor to cash in on the Metaverse, some industry experts have criticized the hype surrounding the concept.
The Metaverse Consensus Circle, an industry body under the telecom operator China Mobile, published a "Metaverse Industry Self-discipline Convention" on February 21, emphasizing that the new technology should be employed to serve the real economy rather than to speculate and inflate bubbles.
Several delegates submitted proposals on the regulation of Metaverse at this year’s “Two Sessions,” China’s annual gathering of lawmakers and top political consultants. Gao Yu, a deputy to the National People’s Congress, said efforts needed to be made to guard against the “overheating” of Metaverse.
BlueFocus’s shares closed 2.23% higher at CNY 7.8 apiece on March 10, putting the market cap at CNY 19.43 billion. Its rivals in Metaverse include Botontech (300031, 宝通科技) and Hylink (603825, 华扬联众).