Dexter Studios has added more weapons to its arsenal thanks to a groundbreaking alliance with Korea’s top virtual production companies.
On July 21, Visual effects (VFX) and content company Dexter Studios announced that it had signed a four-way MOU with Vive Studios, an AI-based metaverse content art tech company, Xon Studios, the first virtual production company in Korea, and Epic Games Korea, a world-class game developer and producer for digital creative ecosystems on improving virtual production technology and market competitiveness. This MOU is expected to strengthen the cooperation between the four partners and facilitate closer and more practical exchanges.
Vive Studios is an AI-based metaverse content art and tech company. Earlier this year, the company showcased its technology and made headlines with the story film for “7FATES: CHAKHO,” produced in collaboration with BTS’ agency Hybe Entertainment, original story “DARK MOON: The Blood Altar,” and the story film for Tomorrow x Together’s original story “The Star Seekers.”
Xon Studios was the first-ever virtual studio established in Korea. To date, it has produced various projects across a wide spectrum of genres from the Netflix series “Juvenile Justice” to advertisements like Hyundai Motor Company’s Staria World Premiere.
Meanwhile, Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, which provides the world’s most open and progressive real-time 3D technology, is leading the innovative virtual production technology required for the production of various contents such as movies, serials, and advertisements, from previs to the latest production technologies like in-camera VFX.
Regarding the MOU, the four partners said, “Going forward, we will work together through different means in various fields to lay the foundation for the virtual production industry and at the same time, deliver new innovative results that will become milestones in the history of virtual content.” They added, “In doing so, we will demonstrate the power and influence of ‘K-content’ that has evolved further in line with this era of multiverses, and we will help the K-content industry build up its reputation even further.”
Recently, Dexter Studios finished filming director Kim Yong-hwa’s new film “The Moon” at its D1 studio. Kim Yong-hwa already has two films that have sold more than 10 million tickets at the box office. The four partners plan to use their technologies on co-producing live-action versions of “Wizard Boy Meoteol” and “Daughter of the Emperor,” both of which are based on cartoons, with Megabox Plus M and Toyou’s Dream.
Last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism estimated that the size of the Korean market for immersive content in 2022 could reach KRW 11.7 trillion, which is roughly five times larger than the market back in 2020. Global consulting firm PwC also forecasted that the global market for metaverse content will reach USD 1.75 trillion (approx. KRW 2267.65 trillion) in 2030, growing at an average annual rate of more than 32% from KRW 113 trillion in 2020.
