Lotte Home Shopping’s Bellygom character to debut in mobile game

[Courtesy of Lotte Home Shopping]

Bellygom, the beloved character of South Korea’s Lotte Home Shopping, is set to make its debut as the star of a new mobile game.

Lotte Home Shopping announced on Monday that the mobile game “Bellygom Match Land,” featuring the Bellygom intellectual property (IP), is scheduled for release next month.

The game will first launch in the United Kingdom in July, followed by Thailand and Indonesia, and will hit the domestic market in September.

This marks the first time a distribution company-created character IP has been utilized in game development.

Bellygom Match Land is a puzzle game, a genre highly favored by the 10-30 age group, which constitutes over 70 percent of Bellygom’s social media subscribers.

The game’s storyline involves players rebuilding Belly Land, an amusement park closed due to a lack of visitors, by solving puzzles.

For the game’s development, Lotte Home Shopping partnered with content IP startup MACOVILL, working on concept planning, story setting, and game production for a year.

Founded in 2020, MACOVILL boasts diverse production capabilities in games and animation.

“The UK was chosen for the initial launch due to its high preference for puzzle games,” said a company official. “We plan to expand to Japan, Europe, and North America in the future.”

Bellygom, a pink bear character conceived in 2018 by Lotte Homeshopping’s MZ generation employees, embodies the concept of “a bear that brings smiles to everyday life.”

It currently boasts a fanbase of 1.7 million across YouTube and Instagram.

Bellygom built its popularity through YouTube over four years and became a household name in Korea following the “Amazing Bellygom” exhibition at Seokchon Lake in Jamsil, southern Seoul, in April 2022.

The 15-meter tall Bellygom statue, equivalent to a four-story apartment building, drew 3.25 million visitors, including couples and families, to the outdoor plaza of Lotte World Tower.

Sales of Bellygom-related merchandise, including plush toys, keyrings, and stationery, surged to 16 billion won last year ($11.6 million) from 6 billion won in 2021. Sales are expected to exceed 20 billion won this year.