On Monday, February 27, 2023, JCB Corporation, Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Resona Holdings, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation, TBT Lab, Inc. and TBT Lab, Inc. are collaborating to build a BtoB open metaverse infrastructure " Ryugyukoku (tentative) " using the metaverse construction framework "PEGASUS WORLD KIT" and to establish the "Japan Metaverse Economic Region" (JME). The companies announced that they have signed a basic agreement for the creation of the " Japan Metaverse Economic Zone. The companies will work together to realize industrial DX by utilizing gaming technology.
Background and Purpose of the Agreement
In recent years, the demand for DX utilizing the virtual domain has been rapidly increasing among companies and government agencies, and the companies have concluded a basic agreement. In the future, the companies intend to realize corporate DX and consumer EX (Experience Transformation), including information dissemination, marketing, and work style reform for domestic companies, as a new social infrastructure by enabling interoperability between different platforms, not to mention collaboration between metaverses within a platform. One of the initiatives is the Gamification System. As one of the initiatives, the concept of "Ryugyukoku (tentative)," an open metaverse infrastructure for corporations that integrates technologies and services such as gamification, FinTech, and ICT, was also revealed.
Metaverse "Ryugukoku (tentative)" with an otherworldly RPG worldview
Ryugukoku (tentative)" is a metaverse platform that has a unique fantasy worldview and incorporates elements of a relaxed online RPG. Metaverse services and content provided in "Ryugukoku" will wander around the world as moving cities, castles, and vehicles. Users will be able to enjoy encountering a variety of contents and services as if they were traveling through an RPG in another world.
Ryugukoku (tentative)" will be an open and secure metaverse infrastructure that enables the safe and secure use of identity authentication, various payments, insurance, etc., through collaboration between major financial institutions and companies and the TBT Lab Group. Furthermore, there is a prospect of expanding the "Japan Metaverse Economic Bloc" globally by providing it to foreign companies and government agencies.
Three Solutions to Promote DX and EX
Three solutions to realize and promote corporate DX and consumer EX have been revealed in "Ryugyukoku (tentative).
AUTO LEARNING AVATAR (ALA)
In "Ryugukoku (tentative)," avatars' behavior will be automatically learned and personalized information on health care, hobbies, etc. will be provided. This is intended to realize a digital twin through avatars.
PEGASUS WORLD KIT (PWK)
PWK will have functions that are highly scalable by users, such as an "RPG Editor" that allows users to create game events and "RIV Technology" that allows users to generate a meta-verse from their photos. It could be said that content is created by users and consumed by users, which is what a metaverse should be.
MULTI MAGIC PASSPORT (MMP)
MMP will be implemented as an ID card with a payment function for users to move between services in the "Ryugyukoku (tentative)" metaverse. In addition to ID authentication and payment methods, MMP allows users to register NFTs, items, avatar skins, and other information necessary for a comfortable stay in the Metaverse. This information can also be used to improve convenience in the real world.
Roles of each company in the initiative
The 10 companies that have signed the agreement plan to work toward the creation of a "Japan Metaverse Economic Zone" in their respective areas of expertise. A media conference will be held in early summer of 2023, and the "Japan Metaverse Economic Zone" will be expanded by inviting more companies to support the project.
JCB Corporation
- Provision of functions and know-how in the area of MMP/ID authentication, creation of a digital twin for merchants
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
- Provision of functions and know-how in the MMP/payment area, provision of Metaverse Coin, regional DX collaboration
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.
- Gamification promotion, PWK development support, creator economy construction
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
- MMP function construction support (authentication/payment/data, etc.), provision of Web3 type metaverse financial functions, overseas expansion support
Resona Holdings, Inc.
- Joint research on future lifestyles and next-generation ID authentication/payment domain
Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
- Risk analysis and insurance development for the Web3 era including metaverse
Toppan Printing Co.
- Interoperation of the MiraVerse metaverse platform and the AVATECT avatar generation and management platform, and provision of know-how and expression technology for handling cultural content
Fujitsu Limited
- Provision of Web3-related technologies such as digital data rights management
Mitsubishi Corporation
- Global partner for overseas development of the Metaverse platform and expansion of the economic sphere
TBT Lab Inc.
- Provision of gamification functions and know-how, PWK and MMP