BTS World, the much-awaited mobile game application featuring internationally acclaimed K-Pop boy band BTS, will be launched by South Korea's largest mobile-gaming company Netmarble Corp on Wednesday.
The game, which includes virtual simulation, will give players the role of talent managers. Starting from their pre-debut period (2012), the users will be able to make decisions for BTS to achieve global stardom.
Created by developer Takeone Company Corp, the game features interactive elements such as texts and calls with BTS members based on pre-written scripts.
The game also gives the fandom, called ARMYs, the ability to explore what-if scenarios through an alternative reality of members if they failed to achieve success in the entertainment industry. Scenarios such as BTS member V as a strawberry farmer and Jungkook as a Taekwondo champion will also be seen in the app.
It took two years for the seven-member boy band to record the 10,000 exclusive photos, 100 exclusive video clips and several original soundtracks for the game amid their hectic sold-out world tours. Clips of BTS cheering the users up if they are feeling down will also be included.
Seungwon Lee, Netmarble's chief global officer, said even though the game is based on story-telling, missions and gaming elements are challenging to users. "It's sufficient incentive to keep motivating users to play," he told Bloomberg.
Another aspect that makes the app exciting, according to Netmarble president Simon Sim, is the fact that they incorporated the members' own views on the alternatives had their careers as artists didn't shape the way it did.
"Those alternate realities are based on some of the members' interviews, and they said, 'If I wasn't in BTS band, my vision was this," he told Reuters.
The game has been seen as a critical union between two major South Korean industry sectors, technology and entertainment, that aims to drive the country's economic growth.
BTS has released three official game soundtracks featuring collaborations with international artists: "Dream Glow" ft Charli XX, "A Brand New Day" ft Zara Larson as well as the recently released "All Night" with Juice WRLD.
"A Brand New Day" replaced "Dream Glow" and debuted as Billboard No 1 on its World Digital Song Charts on Monday. The track, "Dream Glow" dethrones the previous BTS chart-topper "Boy With Luv" (ft Halsey) which debuted at No.1 on April 27 and spent eight weeks on top of the Billboards charts.
The app will be released worldwide (excluding China) for iOS and Android devices on June 26. The game will be available for free download on the app stores. It will also have app-based payments so that users can quicken the process.
BTS or "Beyond the Scene" skyrocketed to international fame in 2017 and became the first Korean group to receive Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certification with their single "Mic Drop." The group is also the first K-Pop group to become a member of the Recording Academy in 2019. The move was part of a push to diversify the Grammy Awards.
