“When I was young, the only game my parents allowed was 'Animal Farm.' I grew the farm without realizing how much time had passed, and now it’s disappointing that I can no longer see it.”
“I used to sit side by side with my younger sibling in front of the computer, playing the hair salon, ramen cooking, and snack factory games for hours without noticing the time.”
The 'Children’s portal' Junior Naver (JuniVer) will end its service at 3 p.m. on the 27th. JuniVer, a childhood friend of those born in the 1990s, now in their mid-20s to mid-30s, will disappear into memories after 26 years. Naver plans to expand the children’s education ecosystem with an artificial intelligence (AI) and software (SW) education platform called 'Entry' instead of JuniVer.
◇ Games that captivated those born in the 1990s: Su and Animal Farm
JuniVer is the first portal exclusively for children created in June 1999 in collaboration with the portal 'Naver.' It offered educational content such as fairy tales and children’s songs, as well as various flash games, gaining immense popularity. Those who attended elementary school in the early 2000s were also referred to as 'JuniVer Kids.' According to Naver, as of 2017, the number of JuniVer users was 4.5 million, matching the entire population of children under 9 in Korea.
The content that particularly drew attention included the Su game, Gohyang Dumpling, and the flash game service 'Game Land' along with the web game 'Animal Farm.' Launched in 2003, the Animal Farm content allowed users to operate a farm and grow crops in order to return the inhabitants of 'Mungyeonggyeong Kingdom,' who had turned into animals, back to their human forms. The 'Su Game Series' features the protagonist 'Su,' a popular star who is supposedly 9 years old, in flash games. 'Su’s Ramen Shop,' where Su works part-time, and 'Su’s Beauty Maker,' where users help dress up Su, are still talked about on social media (SNS).
Office worker Yuseong-jun (31) recalled, “I remember turning on Animal Farm at a friend’s house after school and playing the game together while giving each other suggestions. Back then, I used 'cheat codes' to increase in-game currency and became popular among friends.” Office worker Yumin-ah (30) said, “'Ramen cooking' in the Su game was surprisingly difficult. I have memories of having to focus a lot if I couldn't get the timing right. It’s disappointing that JuniVer is going to disappear.”
◇ Disappearing into memories amid competing services… Naver says, “We’ll grow AI education.”
Since the mid-2010s, Game Land was revamped and Animal Farm also ended its service, leaving users disappointed. The once-popular JuniVer succumbed to aggressive service expansions by competitors. YouTube and Netflix strengthened their offerings of content for young children, and child-oriented educational and entertainment services like LG Uplus 'Kids Nation,' SK Broadband 'B tv ZEM,' and MegaStudyEdu 'Elijihigh' were successively launched.
Naver plans to expand the AI education ecosystem for children through its upcoming education platform 'Entry.' Entry is an AI and SW education platform launched in 2013 and has been supported by the Naver Connect Foundation since 2015. The educational materials provided as open source can be used for free if intended for educational purposes. It is currently adopted in national elementary and middle school textbooks, offering various AI and SW learning content and teaching functions.
A Naver representative explained, “With the importance of AI and software education for future generations growing in the AI era, we decided to end JuniVer’s service to focus on Entry, the Connect Foundation’s existing SW education platform for elementary and middle school.”
They added, “The JuniVer service has been a meaningful journey that grew alongside many children. Some videos currently offered on JuniVer can be watched through 'NaverTV.'”