Lotte Innovate disclosed on the 29th that it additionally provided 20 billion KRW in funding to its metaverse subsidiary Caliburse. With this investment, the total investment including share acquisition cost from Lotte Innovate reaches 64 billion KRW. Lotte Innovate in 2021 acquired 100% of Caliburse shares to enter the metaverse business and incorporated it as a subsidiary. Caliburse plans to focus on strengthening service capabilities and expanding global marketing based on the additionally secured funding. In August, Lotte Innovate will proceed with the global grand opening of the ultra-realistic metaverse "Caliburse." Caliburse is an ultra-realistic metaverse combining realistic graphics and high-definition live-action VR based on real-time 3D creation tool "Unreal Engine 5." The Caliburse metaverse platform supports large-scale simultaneous access (MMO) and is characterized by being implementable on various devices including PC, VR devices, 3D displays, and mobile. The 200 billion KRW additional investment thesis: Lotte Group (Korea major retail and entertainment conglomerate) sees metaverse as a channel for retail experiences, entertainment content, and brand marketing; Caliburse Unreal Engine 5-based photo-realistic quality is a meaningful technical differentiator from simpler avatar-based metaverse platforms; the global grand opening timing coincides with improving XR hardware (Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3) that makes high-fidelity metaverse more accessible; the "Caliburse is the future" conviction reflects Lotte bet that premium quality metaverse will find a market even as lower-quality alternatives have struggled.