In the era of digital transformation, the metaverse industry has emerged. It is growing rapidly. The metaverse industry refers to a digitised virtual world that interacts with the real world. Metaverse can be divided into traditional metaverse and modern metaverse. The present study focused on modern metaverses consisting of seven elements. The metaverse industry is also creating various economic effects by forming an industrial ecosystem through connection with various areas of the economy and society. As the center of this metaverse industrial ecosystem, the Seoul Metropolitan Government needs to continue to grow this metaverse industry to improve its global competitiveness.

In order to foster and revitalise the metaverse industrial ecosystem, this research was conducted to grasp business status and policy demand of companies. Through a survey, we confirmed the perception and outlook of metaverse, the operation status of companies and various difficulties and policy demands. In the metaverse industrial ecosystem, which is currently in its infancy, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has a high level of centrality and leadership. Companies expect the industry’s growth to be realised in four to five years. Developing leading technologies and devices in the field of augmented reality is more important than anything else in the process. Nevertheless, the city’s metaverse industry competitiveness is currently relatively low. For qualitative development of the industrial ecosystem as a whole, various issues need to be addressed.

By conducting surveys and analyses, the present study set the following three policy directions to foster the metaverse industry in Seoul in the future: 1) strengthening corporate competitive capabilities, 2) creating a global base for the metaverse industry that can lead the Seoul economy and 3) establishing a Seoul-type policy governance that drives revitalization of the metaverse industrial ecosystem. Based on these policy directions, this study derived various policy measures. In particular, in relation to these policy measures, two measures were set as flagship projects related to various industrial areas requiring participation of many industrial players.