SK Telecom And KT In VR Game Push For 5G

SK Telecom and KT are betting on VR games for deployment in 5G and will also showcase their offerings at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC), the companies announced.

On Tuesday, SK Telecom said it had a signed licensing agreement with Nexon, South Korea's biggest game company, to use three games in the latter's portfolio to develop 5G VR games.

The three games are Cart Rider, Cray Arcade, and Bubble Fighter, all nationally popular titles in South Korea. SK Telecom will launch them as VR games for 5G smartphones within the first half of the year, it said.

SK Telecom also said it is preparing differentiated content ahead of the launch of 5G-enabled smartphones and will announce partnerships with global gaming, media, and content firms at MWC.

KT, collaborating with VR content developer Appnori, will offer a 5G-based multi-player gaming platform dubbed VR Sports that will be available on its GiGA Live TV, which will be showcased at MWC.

The telco will first offer baseball on VR Sports and showcase it at the trade show. It will later add badminton and table tennis.

GiGA Live TV was launched in November and uses a VR headset offered by KT.  

KT said 5G networks will bring sizable growth to wireless multiplayer VR games.

South Korea is planning roll out 5G networks for consumers in March.

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