Gigamedia to launch Warhammer Online closed beta in Taiwan

The WAR is spreading! GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that on April 15, 2009, Gigamedia will be launching Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning closed beta in Taiwan. The game originally launched in North America, Europe, and Australia in September 2008 and Russia in February 2009. This new launch furthers Mythic GM Mark Jacobs' day-one goal of making WAR a "global phenomenon."

Much like Mythic's original WAR release, it appears Gigamedia made limited edition preorder versions of the game available. According to their gaming platform's GM, Yautian Chen, they have completely sold out these copies. They are now selling closed beta packs, which we can only assume are similar to the standard edition preorders sold in North America that guaranteed access to closed beta.

We have forwarded two questions along to EA/Mythic and are awaiting an official response:

1. Will WAR be subscription-based in Taiwan or use another income model (e.g., time cards)?

2. What other Asian countries are EA and Mythic considering for WAR in the future?

We'll keep you posted as we learn more.