Play Company Proceeds with On-Market Purchase of INTICUBE Shares: “Confident in AI Entertech Growth Potential”

Play Company has reaffirmed its commitment to responsible management and enhancing corporate value by purchasing shares of INTICUBE, a KOSDAQ-listed company, on the open market. The company explained that this increase in ownership was based on its confidence in the growth potential of the artificial intelligence (AI) entertech business.

Play Company is the parent company of Playverse, INTICUBE's largest shareholder. In a disclosure made on June 26, the company announced its plan to buy INTICUBE shares on the open market over a thirty-day period until July 25. Play Company is currently proceeding with the share purchase according to this plan, stating that it is part of its efforts to enhance long-term corporate and shareholder value through responsible management.

The company cited INTICUBE's AI entertech business—being developed as a future growth engine—as the main reason behind the on-market purchase.

AI entertech is a new form of entertainment platform that combines generative AI with content intellectual property (IP), enabling continuous interaction between users, characters, and artists. Its core lies in 'relational AI' technology, which goes beyond simple AI chatbots to remember user preferences and conversations, form bonds, and implement diverse content IPs—such as dramas, animations, games, webtoons, and virtual artists—as AI companions.

INTICUBE has been commercializing enterprise AI technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), speech-to-text (STT), text-to-speech (TTS), sentiment analysis, and memory-based dialogues by building AI Contact Centers (AICC) for around 200 financial institutions, public agencies, and large enterprises in Korea, even before the spread of generative AI. The company explained that it is leveraging its accumulated AI expertise to expand into the entertainment sector, thereby securing both technological and business commercialization capabilities.

Industry insiders believe that, in the AI entertech market, the ability to secure and operate content IP—alongside AI technology—is becoming a core competitive edge. Major entertainment companies in Korea and abroad are expanding projects that combine AI with content IP, seeking to lead the next-generation fan experience market.

Play Company possesses extensive experience in content IP business. In addition to running content IP projects with major domestic entertainment companies, it has built up fan-based business capabilities by operating successful IPs such as the virtual idol 'Isagae Idol,' as well as Roblox projects and character pop-up stores.

The company’s strategy is to build a differentiated AI entertech ecosystem by combining Play Company’s content IP competitiveness with INTICUBE’s AI technologies. Starting with the launch of an AI subscription service, it plans to expand its offerings to voice content, digital goods, AI items, commerce, and licensing businesses in order to broaden the scope of content IP utilization. The relational AI platform is currently under development, with the goal of launching it within this year.

A company representative stated, "This on-market purchase is part of our responsible management, based on our confidence in INTICUBE’s long-term growth and the AI entertech business. We will create new growth opportunities in the global AI entertainment market by combining proven AI technologies with content IP through our relational AI platform."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.