Summary The metaverse is currently one of the most noteworthy emerging industries, with major countries creating policies and business environments to nurture the metaverse industry from a medium to long-term perspective. In South Korea, the significance of the metaverse industry is recognized, and active support policies are being pursued. For the establishment of continuous and effective metaverse support policies, a systematic classification system that can grasp the domestic industry status and changes is necessary. Although various global market research institutions are using their metaverse industry classification systems based on their purposes or criteria, an official classification system suitable for understanding the domestic industry status is still lacking. This study serves as a preliminary research for the introduction of a metaverse status survey to investigate the current state of the metaverse industry. It has established a definition and scope of the metaverse industry and a metaverse industry classification system, considering the expandability of the classification system with the development of new industries. Firstly, a metaverse and metaverse industry definition proposal was established based on the concept of the metaverse in the "Virtual Convergence Industry Promotion Act," which is the legal basis for the metaverse status survey. Based on the definition of the metaverse industry, the scope of the metaverse industry was set, and a metaverse industry classification system (draft) was established through the investigation of preliminary data such as the VR·AR industry classification system, global research institutions' metaverse industry classification systems, and the structure of the metaverse industry. Opinions from industry, academia, and research experts were collected. Additionally, through the collection of opinions from related organizations and companies, the classification system was improved to derive a final draft composed of 4 main categories and 12 sub-categories. Based on this metaverse industry classification system (draft), a pilot status survey to understand the current state of the metaverse industry is scheduled to be conducted. However, about 2-3 years (unpublished) of stabilization period for data collection/analysis and continuous improvement of the metaverse industry classification system are required to ensure data continuity for medium to long-term time series analysis. The metaverse industry classification system proposed in this study is expected to be utilized in producing basic statistics such as status surveys to understand the current state of the metaverse industry, thereby contributing to laying the groundwork to support the development of the domestic metaverse industry.
