South Korea’s Lotte Group to leverage Arbitrum blockchain for its metaverse

South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group has leveraged Ethereum layer 2 network Arbiturm to develop AI-driven metadata platform Lotte Caliverse.

Announced at CES 2025, Arbitrum’s blockchain, with block times of 250ms, is described by Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs, as “the ideal fit for California” and “enables high-quality performance in virtual worlds and gaming experiences.” ” ”

Goldfeder added that the Arbitrum technology stack will provide users with a seamless and consumer-friendly experience and create “a new standard for Arbitrum-based interactions in virtual worlds.”

Created in collaboration with gaming industry giants such as Epic Games and leveraging technologies such as Unreal Engine 5, Lotte Caliverse offers a metadata platform and delivers experiences such as virtual shopping with real-world product deliveries, immersive K-Pop and electronic music concerts with stars such as. Interactive gaming experiences including NMIXX and DJ ALOK and the newly announced “Caliverse: Invasion.”

The platform will feature brands from Lotte Group’s wide portfolio such as Lotte Duty-Free, Lotte HiMart and Lotte Cinema, as well as world-renowned names such as Givenchy, MCM, L’Occitane, Fresh, 7-Eleven and world-famous electronic music. Festival, Tomorrowland.

Caliverse first went live in August last year and is already open to users, but integration with Arbitrum will add crypto payments to the platform.

The latest development builds on Lotte Group’s strategic partnership with Arbitrum, which was announced last year and positions Arbitrum as Caliverse’s main blockchain infrastructure provider.

As part of this expanded collaboration, Lotte is expected to receive its largest-ever ARB token grant from the Arbitrum Foundation. According to Arbitrum executives, this agreement is still being discussed and has not yet been finalized.

Lotte Group has a history of exploring blockchain technology, first announcing plans to develop a metadatabase at CES 2023. That same year, the company collaborated with Ethereum sidechain Polygon to expand its NFT initiatives.

Meanwhile, Arbitrum has steadily consolidated its position as a major player in the Web3 gaming space. Last month, the project released Captain Laserhawk: The GAME, a multiplayer shooter that leverages blockchain to enable web3-based experiences.

In June 2024, the project announced a $215 million funding program to support game developers with the aim of advancing the web3 gaming industry.

According to Dappradar, the blockchain currently hosts more than 100 games; top games CryptantCrab Prime, Zeeverse and Overtime Markets.