Rather than follow the lead of Marshmello or Drake and go into the esports world, K-pop are following the lead of Iron Maiden (yes, really) and developing their own mobile game.
Except you can’t play it just yet as it is not available for a while. Instead fans have had to pre-register from 9th May for the BTS WORLD game which has been developed by Netmarble Corp and is available for Android and iOS devices.
Details ahead of full release are scant but it appears to be a management game where fans apply to become the manager of BTS in a parallel world back in 2012 where they are just starting out and putting their debut album together. “You’ve just become BTS’s manager in a world where BTS doesn’t even exist yet,” screams the site. “Their debut is now in your hands!”
So what will that involve? “We’re looking for a manager who will help us debut!” says the preregistration site and below that are the types of qualities the different members of BTS are looking for in their new virtual manager. “Someone who’s ready to do anything necessary to wake me up in the morning,” says one. “A caring manager who will shape us into wonderful human beings,” is another’s request. “Someone who shares my values,” adds a third.
It seems that it’s not just a game but also a way to access new content from BTS. “Not only do they get to experience something entirely different, but they’re also getting access to a tremendous amount of new and exciting content we created with BTS specifically for the game,” said Seungwon Lee, chief global officer of Netmarble, in a statement.
There will be 10,000 (yes, TEN THOUSAND) new photos and 100 exclusive videos within the game so you can’t really accuse them of cutting corners. It is still, however, unclear if this is going to be a freemium game and if there will be in-app purchases. Perhaps the pre-registration (something we’ve not seen before for a pop star game like this) is a way to gauge fan interest before the app launches and may shape how its economic model works based on how many fans want to get their hands on it.
