South Korean game maker NCSoft and entertainment giant CJ ENM said Tuesday they will establish a new entertainment joint venture this year.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday, the joint venture will combine NCSoft’s advanced information technology and CJ ENM’s expertise in the entertainment business to create new content.

Though the exact type of the new content the joint venture will create has not yet been unveiled, this is not the first time the companies have joined forces to launch a new entertainment business.

In one such collaboration, NCSoft’s Universe, a mobile app for K-pop fans set for release early this year, will showcase CJ ENM artists and groups including the Boyz, Monsta X, IZ*ONE and Ateez.

In Universe, users can have a virtual experience of speaking with artists on the phone, enabled by voices synthetized by NCSoft’s artificial intelligence technology. They can also produce a music video with the characters of artists brought to life by NCSoft’s motion capture and scanning technologies. Users can upload their online and offline fandom activities on the app and receive rewards.

“The strategic partnership will allow both firms to secure key strengths to compete against global content companies,” a CJ ENM official said.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)