Once-distinguished Cyworld to make grand comeback

Courtesy of CY Communications

Indigenous social networking service (SNS) Cyworld has found a new owner and is expected to relaunch sometime next year.

Cycom Communication Inc. (Cycom) announced today that it has finalized the acquisition of the business and assets of Cyworld from CyworldJet, the former owner of Cyworld. Psycomz was founded in early September as a special-purpose vehicle for the business. It is led by 2bytes CEO HamYoung-cheol, who previously worked at Daum and Pearl Abyss.

Psyworld was the dominant social networking site in Korea in the 2000s, with 32 million users. Users decorated their own online spaces, called “Minihompi,” and interacted with “ilchon,” a concept of friends. Users could purchase and gift decorative items, background music, and other items with cyber money called “acorns”.

However, it went downhill as it failed to quickly transition from the PC-based to the mobile era. After several changes in ownership, the service was shut down in October 2019.

CyworldJet, which took over the operation, relaunched the service in April 2022, but there was no news of it after it was temporarily suspended for “renewal” in August 2023.

Cycomz plans to develop a new community service that utilizes the Cyworld brand assets. The personal data of users held by the existing corporations, including 17 billion photos, was transferred to Cycomz.

“We plan to create a service that provides a personalized space for users who are tired of excessive privacy disclosure and information sharing on existing SNS and easily interact with small groups, with the concept of reviving the original motto of Cyworld, ‘People who get along,'” said a representative from Cycomz.

The goal is to launch a beta version in the first half of 2025, followed by a general release next year. Currently, the company's homepage features content announcing the new beginning.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.