Cha Sang-hoon, new chief strategy officer at Eyes Entertainment. [Photo: Eyes Entertainment]

Eyes Entertainment said on Tuesday it has hired former Kakao Entertainment vice president Cha Sang-hoon (차상훈) as its new chief strategy officer (CSO).

Cha will oversee Eyes Entertainment’s management and business strategy, including mid- to long-term planning, identifying new business opportunities and expanding strategic partnerships. The company said it made the appointment to strengthen companywide strategy-setting and execution capabilities in line with new service launches and its growth stage.

Cha has worked for more than 20 years on business strategy and new businesses in the information technology, platform and content industries. After stints at NHN and KTF, he co-founded Podotree in 2010, the predecessor to KakaoPage, and led IP, content and platform businesses as executive vice president in charge of business operations.

He later served as CSO at Kakao Entertainment, overseeing domestic story business strategy and new businesses. In 2023, he promoted IP and fandom-based platform businesses as chief executive of Levels, a joint venture between Dunamu and HYBE.

Eyes Entertainment plans to roll out a chatbot game messenger in the second half of this year in which humans and virtual humans communicate together. It will combine various chatbots, avatars and game elements to offer conversation and content consumption within a single service.

The company has operated a game-style chatbot service through ‘Geumkiwoogi’, previously offered as a KakaoTalk chatbot, and plans to expand it into a key function of its messenger service.

Cha said, “In the AI era, the boundary between enjoying content and communicating is gradually blurring,” and added, “I will connect the company’s competitiveness and potential to various growth opportunities and contribute to expanding corporate value.”

Eyes Entertainment CEO Namgoong Hoon (남궁훈) said, “With Cha joining, we will connect the capabilities the company has with new opportunities and create strategic synergies,” adding, “We will broaden our growth foundation and design mid- to long-term strategies together.”