Universe (platform)
South Korean mobile app and web platform
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Universe (stylized as UNIVERSE; Korean: 유니버스; RR: Yunibeoseu) was a Korean mobile app and web platform created by the video game developer NCSoft and launched in January 2021.[1]
The global K-pop entertainment platform revealed all 38 participating artists individually from November 12, 2020, to August 29, 2022. The platform officially closed and its service was transferred to Dear U bubble in January 2023, app users being transferred.[2][3]
Development
Ahead of its launch day, Universe surpassed four million pre-registered users on both the App Store and Google Play.[4] As of January 2021, K-pop fans from 188 countries around the world including South Korea, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Brazil completed pre-registration with 80% of these users residing overseas.[5] Two months after its launch, Universe achieved more than five million global downloads with a total 692 exclusive contents released.[6] Four months after its launch, the K-pop entertainment platform surpassed ten million downloads.[7]
On January 20, 2021, NCSoft announced that it will offer original content through its upcoming platform UNIVERSE, which would be produced in partnership with NCSoft's new digital content wing, KLAP.[8]
Within ten months of its release, Universe surpassed 20 million downloads.[9] The proportion of overseas users increased to 89% while the total number of original content released rose to 5,122 with a cumulative view count of 21.46 million.[10] As of July 2022, after the Universe service completely reorganized, with a total of 6,288 original contents, the monthly revisit rate increased 10 times, the cumulative number of views reached 24 million, and the number of global downloads exceeded 24 million.[11]
Artists
Current
- Astro[12]
- Ateez[13]
- Brave Girls[14]
- CIX[15]
- Choi Ye-na[16]
- DKZ[17]
- Drippin[14]
- Epex[18]
- Ghost9[19]
- (G)I-dle[20]
- Ha Sung-woon[21]
- Heo Young-ji[22]
- Iz*One[23]
- Jo Yu-ri[22]
- Kang Daniel[24]
- Kard[22]
- Kep1er[25]
- Kim Bum[26]
- Kwon Eun-bi[27]
- Lee Dong-wook[26]
- Park Ji-hoon[28]
- Ren[29]
- Viviz[30]
- WEi[31]
- Weki Meki[32]
- Wonho[32]
- Yoo Yeon-seok[26]
- Youngjae (Got7)[18]
Former
- Oh My Girl (2021–2022, moved to Weverse)[31][33]
- Yerin (2021–2022, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble with Stars")[34]
- SF9 (2021–2022)[35]
- The Boyz (2020–2023, moved to Weverse)[36]
- Lightsum (2021–2023, moved to Weverse)[30]
- AB6IX (2020–2023, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble with Stars")[37][38]
- Monsta X (2020–2023, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble for Starship")[39][40]
- WJSN (2020–2023, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble for Starship")[41][40]
- Cravity (2021–2023, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble for Starship")[31][40]
- Ive (2021–2023, moved to Dear U Bubble under "Bubble for Starship")[42][40]
Universe Originals
Series
- Kang Daniel – Agent Blackjack K (10 Episodes)[43]
- Monsta X – Area 51: The Code (10 Episodes)[44]
- Iz*One – Fantastic I*z: Hidden School (10 Episodes)[citation needed]
Radio
- Kang Daniel – Kang Daniel Film Festival (7.25 MHz)[45]
- The Boyz – Star THE Bs D.D.D (12.06 MHz)[45]
- Monsta X – Smart Ones (5.14 MHz)[45]
- Park Jihoon – The Next Door (3.26 MHz)[45]
- Astro – Hot Topics! (2.23 MHz)[45]
- Iz*One – Oneiric Diary (10.29 MHz)[45]
- Ateez – The Clues (10.24 MHz)[45]
- (G)I-dle – Not That Close (5.02 MHz)[45]
- WJSN – Universe War (2.25 MHz)[45]
- AB6IX – Care to Join? (5.22 MHz)[45]
- CIX – Seeds of Temptation (7.23 MHz)[45]
- SF9 – Catch Up! (10.05 MHz)[45]
Universe Music
All artists that have joined Universe will participate in its "Universe Music" series, with various content including music videos released each month.[a][46]
| Date | Artist | Title | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26, 2021 | Iz*One | "D-D-Dance" | Prod. Full8loom | [47][b] |
| Feb 9, 2021 | Sumi Jo and Rain | "Guardians" | Universe theme song | [48][c] |
| Mar 3, 2021 | Park Ji-hoon feat. Lee Hi | "Call U Up" | Prod. Primary | [49][b] |
| Apr 29, 2021 | (G)I-dle | "Last Dance" | Prod. Groovy Room | [50][c] |
| May 13, 2021 | Kang Daniel feat. Loco | "Outerspace" | N/A | [51][c] |
| May 24, 2021 | AB6IX | "Gemini" | [52][c] | |
| July 1, 2021 | CIX | "Tesseract" | Prod. Hui, Minit | [53][b] |
| July 11, 2021 | The Boyz | "Drink It" | N/A | [54][b] |
| July 26, 2021 | Monsta X | "Kiss or Death" | [55][b] | |
| Sep 2, 2021 | Astro | "Alive" | [56][c] | |
| Sep 23, 2021 | WJSN | "Let Me In" | [57][b] | |
| Oct 1, 2021 | WEi | "Starry Night" | Prod. Dress | [58][b] |
| Nov 11, 2021 | Drippin | "Vertigo" | N/A | [59][c] |
| Dec 23, 2021 | Oh My Girl | "Shark" | [60][c] | |
| Dec 30, 2021 | SF9 | "Savior" | [61][d] | |
| Jan 31, 2022 | Ateez | "Don't Stop" | [62] | |
| Mar 10, 2022 | Kwon Eun-bi | "Esper" | [63] | |
| Apr 14, 2022 | Ha Sung-woon | "La La Pop!" | [64] | |
| Apr 29, 2022 | Kang Daniel | "Ready to Ride" | [65] | |
| May 31, 2022 | Cravity | "Vivid" | [66] | |
| Jun 17, 2022 | The Boyz | "Sweet" | [67] | |
| July 7, 2022 | Monsta X | "If with U" | [68] | |
| July 21, 2022 | Astro | "U&Iverse" | [69] | |
| Aug 11, 2022 | Jo Yu-ri | "Maybe" | [70] | |
| Aug 19, 2022 | Wonho | "Don't hesitate" | [71] | |
| Sep 23, 2022 | Kep1er | "Sugar Rush" | [72] | |
| Oct 27, 2022 | Viviz | "Rum Pum Pum" | [73] |
Concerts
| Date | Title | Venue | Performing Artist(s) | Attendance | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 14, 2021 | UNI-KON | Online |
|
2,600,000 | [74] |
| July 2, 2022 | SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium and online |
|
3,800,000 | [75][76] | |
| July 3, 2022 |
|
Fan meetings
Universe Fan Event
| Date | Title | Performing Artist(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 23, 2022 | Black Gambler | Kang Daniel | [77] |
| August 19, 2022 | Happy Yerin Day | Yerin | [78] |
| November 18, 2022 | Sunset Beach | Kep1er | [citation needed] |
Universe Fan Party
| Date | Title | Venue | Performing Artist(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 28, 2021 | Iz*one Online Fan Party | Online | Iz*One | [79] |
| April 17, 2021 | CIX: Blooming Day | CIX | [80] | |
| May 16, 2021 | Dear My D | Kang Daniel | [81] | |
| June 6, 2021 | Sunday Cravity | Cravity | [82] | |
| July 24, 2021 (cancelled)[e] | Monsta Castle | Monsta X | [84] | |
| November 7, 2021 | Welcome to WJSN House | YES24 Live Hall | WJSN | [85] |
| February 11, 2022 | Oh My Princess Diary | Oh My Girl | [86] | |
| May 7, 2022 | Dream Driver | Nodeul Live House | Drippin | [87] |
| May 8, 2022 | Eunbi's Secret Store | Kwon Eun-bi | ||
| May 21, 2022 | School Fest. in Neverland | YES24 Live Hall | (G)I-dle | [88] |
Notes
- The full music videos were exclusively released on the Universe app, excluding the one for the platform's theme song Guardians (Universe), which is also accessible on Warner Music Korea's YouTube channel. Starting with "Shark", the music videos are now released on YouTube a few days after their release on the app. Music videos for past Universe Music songs are now also available on the YouTube channels of Universe, Warner Music Korea, 1theK (Kakao Entertainment), and Sony Music Korea.
- Distribution: Kakao Entertainment
- Distribution: Warner Music Korea
- Distribution: Sony Music Korea