posted
yeah, CHINA just launched a game in the US and there should be a spinoff sometime soon
Posts: 1045 | From: novato,ca,usa | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
nice move through 8 this morning on news...
BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay for merchandise" model for online games in China, today announced key performance metrics for certain of its commercially available games in China.
Yulgang, one of China's most popular online games, now in its third year of commercial availability, posted average daily revenue growth of more than 20 percent in September 2007 compared to both July and August 2007. As noted previously in the CDC earnings announcement on September 6, 2007, the company saw a drop in Yulgang revenues in July and August primarily due to unauthorized "pirate" servers offering Yulgang, as well as the need to update the current version of the game. As a result of the direct efforts of CDC Games, in conjunction with the support of the Chinese government authorities, law enforcement agencies, as well as Internet operators, CDC Games believes that two-thirds of the pirate servers were successfully shut down in August and September. Additionally, on August 28, 2007, CDC Games launched Yulgang v180, a comprehensive upgrade that includes new maps and weapons, as well as an updated clan feature that enhances the virtual community aspects of Yulgang to improve ARPU (average revenue per user). The company attributes the growth in Yulgang revenues in September to the combination of shutting down pirate servers and the launch of Yulgang v180. Although revenues have not fully returned to pre-July levels, CDC Games continues to avidly pursue the shutdown of pirate servers and will continue to provide ongoing, compelling game enhancements.
Special Force, the first-to-market, first-person-shooter online game launched by CDC Games in China on June 20, 2007, now exceeds 6 million registered users. Average daily revenue for Special Force was up sequentially 23.4 percent from July to August and 52.3 percent from August to September. Peak concurrent Users (PCU) was up approximately 13.3 percent from August to September and average play time for Special Force users is now approximately 79 minutes. During the last five days ended October 3, 2007, Special Force posted record revenues, unique visitors, average concurrent users, and peak concurrent users.
Since the acquisition of the OPTIC games division from CITIC Pacific on July 12, 2007, their primary game, Shaiya Online, has performed well with average daily revenue in September up 15 percent compared to July. Shine Online, a new cartoon fantasy, 3D massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) launched by OPTIC on September 24, 2007, already has 765,000 registered users in its first 10 days of commercial availability.
Management of CDC Games continues to believe new game launches are critical for sustainable success. As such, five to six new games are planned for commercial launch during the next six months, including The Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM), which has already seen considerable success in North America and Europe. In addition, CDC Games USA is now up and running and building a pipeline of games targeted toward the U.S. market. The planned start of the open beta testing of Battle of Shadows in the United States, originally announced on September 26, 2007, has been postponed to ensure that everything is ready for effective testing of the company's first online game in the United States. The open beta testing is expected to begin soon with the commercial launch expected during the fourth quarter of 2007.
"In July and August, we saw the slowdown in Yulgang, and we have quickly taken effective steps to address the pirate server issues and refresh the game with an exciting upgrade," said Xiaowei Chen, Ph.D., president of CDC Games. "We will continue to shut down pirate servers, and although recovery will take time, the trend is already encouraging. Compared to Q3, Yulgang showed strong signs of recovery during the first few days of the 'Golden Week' National Holiday. From the trend in the numbers we are seeing at the end of September and beginning of October, for both the established games such as Yulgang and Shaiya, as well as the newer games such as Special Force and Shine Online, we expect to see strong sequential growth in Q4 2007."
About CDC Games
CDC Games is one of the market leaders of online and mobile games in China with over 100 million registered users. The company's hit title Yulgang was among the first "free-to-play, pay-for-merchandise" online games in China and has received the "Top 10 Most Popular Games" award from the China Game Industry Annual Conference (CGIAC) for two consecutive years, in 2005 and 2006. Currently, CDC Games offers six popular MMO online games in China that includes: Yulgang, Shaiya, Special Force, Mir III, Shine and Eve Online. In March 2007, the company announced the formation of CDC Games Studio to establish strategic relationships with selected games development partners to accelerate the development of new, original online games for China and other targeted global geographies. CDC Games anticipates being able to deploy up to $100 million for CDC Games Studio investments through contributions from CDC affiliated companies, external partners and its internal resources. CDC Games Studio recent investments include Gorilla Banana and Mgame, the developer of Yulgang, in Korea, and Auran, the developer of "Fury," which received the "Most Surprising" award at the 2006 E3, in Australia. In August 2007, CDC Games formed a new subsidiary called CDC Games International (CGI) and CDC Games USA to launch new games internationally and to position CDC Games as a global publisher of online games. For more information on CDC Games, visit: www.cdcgames.net.
About CDC Corporation
The CDC family of companies includes CDC Software focused on enterprise software applications and services, CDC Mobile focused on mobile applications, CDC Games focused on online games, and China.com focused on portals for the greater China markets. For more information about CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), please visit www.cdccorporation.net.Posts: 1045 | From: novato,ca,usa | Registered: Aug 2003
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7:30 AM EDT October 11, 2007 BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay for merchandise" model for online games in China, today announced the signing of an agreement to expand their business partnership with Sonokong, a leading Korean toy and game, entertainment company. The expanded partnership includes the licensing, in China, of a new game called Dragonsky, as well as Sonokong's commitment to continued support of content updates for Shaiya Online, which was ranked as one of the top 10 most anticipated games in China in 2006. The agreement also partners CDC Games and Sonokong to distribute Shaiya in Taiwan through MacroWell, a local publisher.
Through the agreement, CDC Games has secured exclusive distribution rights in China for a new online game called Dragonsky. The game, under development now by Sonov, a leading studio in Korea which draws on the support of Sonokong, is anticipated for commercial launch by CDC Games in Q2 of 2008. Dragonsky is an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) based on a Chinese martial arts theme set in medieval times. The game will be operated by the OPTIC division of CDC Games.
Dragonsky represents the latest addition to the growing pipeline of planned games for CDC Games. Other games already in the pipeline for China include: The Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM), Stone Age 2, ChaosGem, Come on Baby, Gemfighter and Red Blood.
Currently, the OPTIC division of CDC Games operates Shaiya Online, another game developed by Sonokong. Launched by OPTIC in China in December 2006, Shaiya, is a fantasy-themed MMORPG and currently has over 13 million registered users. Through the expanded partnership agreement, Sonokong is committed to providing continued support and content updates for Shaiya Online in China and has partnered with OPTIC to expand the distribution of the game into Taiwan through a sublicensing agreement with a local publishing partner, MacroWell Technology Co., Ltd.
As previously announced on September 13, 2007, Sonokong is also participating as a charter member of OGAAP (the Online Games Alliance Against Piracy). The alliance, founded by CDC Games and other leading game developers, intends to establish a platform for industry participants and stakeholders to exchange ideas and share experiences; conduct market and technology research; propose industry-wide policies and practices; and lobby relevant government bodies and lawmakers to enact anti-piracy legislation. The alliance will also actively promote public awareness of copyrighted online game usage, educate online game players about copyrighted content and vigorously pursue the continued shutdown of pirated online games as well as the arrest and conviction of their operators.
"We are very happy to expand our already productive and successful partnership with CDC Games," said Dr. Choi Shinkyu, chairman of Sonokong. "Working with CDC Games, we have established a trusted relationship based on mutual benefit. Our expertise in entertainment and games design and development, and the expertise of CDC Games in marketing, distribution and operations are highly complementary and we look forward to a continued productive relationship. Additionally, we are proud to participate in the OGAAP initiative alongside CDC Games and the other founding members to actively fight and prevent piracy in our industry."
"We believe that our past success together with Sonokong is a good indicator of our future success," said Fred Wang, chairman of CDC Games. "New game launches are critical to our continued growth and we believe that Dragonsky is an important new addition to our future pipeline. We are also very happy to have such a prestigious global market leader such as Sonokong join us in the battle against the piracy of online games. Along with the other founding members and sponsorship of the China Government, we will continue to ensure the vibrant growth of our industry in China through active programs including the arrest and prison conviction of pirate server operators.
"Based on the current popularity of Shaiya Online in Korea and China, we expect to achieve similar results in Taiwan," said Calvin Lin, chief executive officer of MacroWell. "We are very pleased to initiate our distribution partnership with Sonokong and CDC Games in Taiwan and look forward to achieving great success together now and in the future."
About Sonokong
Sonokong Co, Ltd. is a leading Korean toy, game and entertainment company. The company is one of the largest toy makers in the world. Sonokong is also a publisher of some of the world's most popular Anime. Sonokong specializes in new-product innovation and development, powered by long-term research focused on leveraging technologies that can be applied extensively for toys and games. Established in 1974, the company's corporate headquarters is located in Sugung-dong Guro-gu Seoul, Korea.
Posts: 1045 | From: novato,ca,usa | Registered: Aug 2003
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