CUBE Entertainment quietly canceled off two trademarks meant for their next girl group, XOGEANS and NEW GG. This might seem minor but it’s actually a chaotic look into a company that’s struggling to keep itself together.
The Ick Surrounding The Name “XOGEANS”
The backlash came fast. Fans, industry watchers, and pretty much anyone with a passing knowledge of K-pop trends pointed out the obvious. XOGEANS looked like a mash-up of SM Entertainment’s EXO and HYBE’s NewJeans. That’s not just unoriginal, it felt like an unflattering copy-paste from two of the most influential groups of the past decade.
The second name, NEW GG, didn’t exactly win hearts either. Beyond sounding like a placeholder you’d jot down on a scrap of paper, it felt unimaginative and lazy. If CUBE was aiming for mystery or intrigue, they missed by a mile.
A Mess Behind the Scenes
Here’s where things get weirder. Multiple insiders claim that several CUBE employees, including department heads, had no idea this group was even in development. The trademark filings reportedly blindsided them, suggesting the decision came straight from the CEO’s desk without input from the wider team.
That fits with a growing narrative from anonymous posts on employee forums like Blind. They claim CUBE is run more on impulse to please certain executives. The CEO, who’s already under scrutiny for past cryptocurrency controversies, holds a controlling 36% stake in the company. It’s entirely possible for major moves like this to bypass the usual checks and balances.
CUBE’s Bigger Problem
The mess isn’t happening in a vacuum. i-dle is CUBE’S only stable moneymaker right now. They just renewed their contracts on terms rumored to give them more creative control and better profit shares. Meanwhile, more than half of CUBE’S other acts have left since 2023. Fans have described CUBE as “a one-group company,” relying almost entirely on i-dle’s success to keep the lights on.
The upcoming girl group, whatever name it ends up with, was supposed to be part of the company’s diversification push. Instead, its very first public appearance was a PR faceplant.
Will the Group Still Debut?
Probably. Canceling the trademarks doesn’t mean the entire project is dead. Odds are CUBE is waiting for the online chatter to cool down before resurfacing with a different name. If they’re smart, they’ll also be rethinking the rollout strategy and maybe speak to their own staff this time.
For the sake of the members training behind the scenes, I’m hoping the name drama is just a blip. Please don’t let this be a preview of how the rest of their careers will be managed.
