Game users can encounter the girl group "Baby Monster" on the Erangel and Rondo maps of KRAFTON's flagship intellectual property (IP) titled Battlegrounds. In specific areas, video buses feature message videos from the members, allowing users to enjoy various rewards. A photo zone for Baby Monster has also been created, where users can take pictures with the members in various poses. Additionally, users can equip a music player to enjoy Baby Monster's music even during battles and can perform an emote that replicates the choreography of their hit song "DRIP" at the moment of victory.
The gaming industry is expanding its intersections with popular girl groups. The strategy is to collaborate with girl groups that have solid fandoms and high recognition, such as Baby Monster and Le Sserafim, to enhance enjoyment and performance. The girl groups representing generations possess not only high media attention but also loyal fandoms evenly distributed among individuals in their teens to 30s, which resembles the consumption demographics of major game users.
According to the gaming industry on the 1st, KRAFTON recently appointed the girl group Baby Monster as the promotional model for Battlegrounds Mobile's 7th anniversary. This promotional campaign runs from the 21st of last month to the 7th of next month, and users will be able to experience game elements, special items, and rewards themed around Baby Monster during this period. Baby Monster, a fourth-generation girl group, is collaborating with KRAFTON for the first time in partnership with a gaming company. A KRAFTON official noted, "We plan to offer a special moment for both game users and Baby Monster fans with the group's fresh and dynamic charm."
Blizzard has teamed up with Le Sserafim. The company announced on the 19th of last month that its game "Overwatch 2" will carry out a second collaboration with Le Sserafim. Previously, Overwatch 2 launched five skins themed around Le Sserafim's flagship song "ANTIFRAGILE" during the first collaboration last year. In this collaboration, existing skins will reappear with the concept of Le Sserafim's hit song "Blue Flame." New skins themed after Le Sserafim's other popular song "FEARLESS" will be released for characters including D.Va, Mercy, Ashe, Illari, and Juno.
Nexon also selected NMIXX as the protagonist of its promotional video for the 4th anniversary of the mobile soccer game "FC Mobile" last year. The video, featuring NMIXX, has a youth drama concept and consists of a total of seven episodes. Members of NMIXX, including Seolyoon, introduced the details of the new update for FC Mobile.
The U.S. company Niantic, famous for the augmented reality (AR) game "Pokémon Go," also featured aespa in a promotional video last year. Members of aespa, including Karina, Winter, Ningning, and Giselle, can be seen searching for Pokémon as they transition between the Pokémon Go world and reality.
Even before the fourth-generation girl groups, "girl group collaborations" in the gaming industry were active. Nexon created synergy by selecting Girls' Generation as the promotional model for "MapleStory" back in 2008. At that time, even users unfamiliar with MapleStory began playing the game due to Girls' Generation being its promotional model, leading to a significant increase in new users. Starting from this point, gaming companies collaborated with iconic girl groups of the time to introduce their faces to users and fans.
The collaboration between gaming companies and girl groups aims to capture the hearts of the well-passionate Generation Z and Alpha generations. Female idols typically have a more balanced fan base among both males and females in their 10s to 30s compared to male idols, who tend to have a predominately female fan base. Additionally, since the fanbases of girl groups are similar in age to game users, there is a high overlap in content consumption. Consequently, gaming companies are actively attempting to absorb new users through collaborations with girl groups. They are receiving positive evaluations for communicating with users in various ways, such as beyond simple advertisements or character releases to include music releases and fan meetings.
An official from the gaming industry stated, "The collaboration between games and entertainment companies can maximize synergy as they are all based on their popular IPs." However, they also noted that "if there is excessive reliance solely on girl group IPs, it may attract attention but sustaining long-term success will be challenging."