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WildStar eyes Chinese release
WildStar may have a new audience for its sci-fi western ways, as 2P.com reports that the game will be headed to China somewhere between late 2015 and early 2016. The MMO will be operated by Giant Interactive, which also handles ZT Online. However, NCsoft and Carbine have yet to officially announce the partnership. A new market for WildStar may be just what the beleaguered title needs to shore up its financials. The Q3 2014 earnings report from NCsoft showed that the new MMO had dropped sales dramatically compared to the previous quarter. [Thanks to Mason for the tip!]
ZT Online 2 open beta attracts 435K concurrent users
For the past couple of years, EVE Online and World of Tanks have been duking it out to see which game can outfox the other in the hunt for the MMORPG peak concurrent user record. As of this week there may be a new contender for the crown if ZT Online 2's open beta period is any indication. The game is a sequel to Giant Interactive's popular ZT Online martial arts title, and the recent open beta period featured an impressive 435,000 simultaneous players online. Gamasutra has the details, culled from a Giant press release, and the company also indicates that approximately 400 developers have worked on the title over the past three years.
NHL uses BD-Live to connect Blackhawks fans via championship Blu-ray discs
One of this week's Blu-ray releases was the NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2009-2010 disc from Warner, and it's surprisingly packing a few BD-Live extras courtesy of Imagion AG and Giant Interactive. As one of the discs released with their BD-Connect features, fans (or bandwagon jumpers -- c'mon, no one was rooting for the Blackhawks when they were losing) can expect downloadable content including dynamically updated news from Blackhawks TV and league sources every time they pop the disc in to relive the glory of last season. That's an ambitious start for the NHL's first Blu-ray release, we guess hockey has realized how important its high-def fans are.
Chinese online games market saw 63% growth in 2008
Business is booming for online game operators in China. The market grew by 63% in 2008 according to analyst group Pearl Research. They also predict that online gaming in China will be a $5.5 billion market by 2012, as reported by Gamasutra's David Jenkins. In a country where broadband speeds are continually improving coupled with the widespread adoption of the web, China's netizens have embraced the relatively low-cost entertainment that online gaming offers. This is good news for gaming companies, particularly in these lean economic times. Jenkins writes, "Online operators in China have apparently seen little downturn in their business during the world economic crisis, with six companies now making revenues greater than $200 million (Tencent, Changyou, The9, Netease, Shanda and Giant)." You can see the full story on China's online games growth over at Gamasutra.
China's ZT Online moves away from RMT, still earns as much as WoW
We've mentioned the Chinese MMO Zhengtu Online (ZT Online) in the past. It's one of the most controversial MMOs in existence, largely due to its focus on RMT and the hardcore extremes its players go to in order to get ahead. ZT Online, developed by Giant Interactive, is very much a blending of a virtual casino and fantasy MMO; gaming security site PlayNoEvil once described ZT Online as "EVE Online meets Las Vegas." Not surprisingly, the title frequently makes headlines in China, and occasionally in the west for the legal issues which crop up in regards to ZT Online.PlayNoEvil reports, "Giant Interactive had been running the 'crack house' of free-to-play gaming with its (once? still?) immensely popular game ZT Online. In the third quarter, the company moved away from its heavy reliance on purchased items towards steadier playing." That is to say, they're cutting back on the extent to which the game, and its gear, is monetized. It's not often that an MMO developer or publisher assesses the situation and intentionally opts to earn less money, but in terms of ZT Online's longevity, Giant Interactive Chairman and CEO Yuzhu Shi believes this is the right way to expand the title's playerbase. Despite this shift in business model, average revenue per user dropped to roughly $41, suggesting they're still earning a great deal of money from the title, years into its life. Indeed, ZT Online is enjoying profits per-user revenue comparable to World of Warcraft in China, PlayNoEvil concludes.Clarification: Comparison between ZT Online and World of Warcraft revenues in China is on a per-user basis. Updated text in bold.
The face of MMO gaming in China's heartland
Gamasutra's "China Angle" column has a new look at the changing face of gaming in China's heartland. While most of us in the West think of China's biggest cities - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai - the vast majority of its people live in less-developed and semi-rural areas. In the biggest cities, the net cafes are facing extinction as laws tighten and people purchase the means to enjoy internet connectivity at home. In these more rural areas, though, the internet cafes remain the primary means of accessing the web. The article goes on to say that wealthy young people in these areas are particularly drawn to MMOs - sometimes the only form of amusement in particularly remote areas.Giant Interactive, the Chinese gaming powerhouse headed by Shi Yuzhu, has tapped into this by connecting the social aspects of MMOs with more traditional social networking. The company has apparently invested in the site 51.com, with the hopes of getting some of their players together offline as well as on-. China Angle author Frank Yu notes that the company is a likely to have a lot of success in this endeavor, as it has proven especially cunning at promoting online services in the past. In-cafe representatives will touch base with future customers, and (they hope) continue to improve the online lifestyle of China's heartland.
Jail time given to Chinese pirate server operators
In the continuing war against pirate servers, three Chinese men have been given jail sentences for running a ZT Online server.Chen Jian, the main builder of the server, has been sentenced to one year in jail, while his accomplices, Shi Zunkai and Sun Jun, were given ten months and nine months respectively. Also included in the final sentence was a fine of 60,000 RMB to be paid to Giant Interactive as damages for the activities of the server.
Hardcore gamer builds Chinese empire
In the months leading up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, with world events being what they are, it's not often that foreigners residing in the mainland turn to China Daily's English pages for the news. This little gem is an exception, however. When you picture the man who's fast becoming a leading light in China's expanding online gaming industry, who do you see? Maybe you picture a slick twenty-something entrepreneur from Hong Kong, decked out in a $5000 suit and shuffling between calls on a few wafer-thin cell phones. Or do you envision a middle-aged bureaucrat turned businessman from Beijing, using his network of connections and riding the tide of interest in online games? Stereotypes aside, no matter how you picture Shi Yuzhu, that aforementioned 'leading light,' you're probably wrong. The 46-year-old CEO of Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) is more outwardly eccentric than most would guess. Shi, who prefers tracksuits over 3-piece-suits, is reportedly the first CEO ever to ring the NYSE bell in anything but formal attire... much less athletic wear.
L5 Games looking a lot like Blizzard
Forming a new game studio and want to build some instant cred in the industry? Following in the example of other companies who believe anything associated with the Blizzard name turns to gold, Gravity Interactive has announced the formation of a new subsidiary game studio called L5 Games, which is to be staffed by a sizable number of former Blizzard North employees. According to the story over at Gama, as many as half of the new staff has ten or more years of experience in the industry, with credits in such mega-hits as World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo.It's not exactly standard practice to flaunt the resumes of new hires in the press, but well... it's Blizzard, alright? Giant Interactive, which plays both publisher and developer roles for Ragnarok Online over in South Korea, is looking to beef up its U.S. operations, which have largely floundered to date, despite their game's unmitigated success overseas. "We intend to develop online games targeting the North American market, one of the fastest growing online gaming markets, with the outstanding developers of L5 Games who have a successful track record and thorough understanding of the culture of the North American market," says Gravity CEO Il-Young Ryu.While there's a temptation to be snarky about this, the fact of the matter is that they've successfully captured our intention. Now just don't disappoint us.
Investors sue game operator for stopping gold-farming
No, I'm not making this up. In October Giant Interactive Group Inc took action against gold farmers in their MMO, Zheng Tu Online (reportedly the most popular online game in China in 2006, with 1.3 million active subscribers). Giant changed the game-mechanics to prejudice against gold farmers, just one month before their IPO in November. Well, after kicking out all those gold farmers who were paying subscribers, concurrency figures fell, as did total registrations - and the investors are apparently cross with Giant for both not disclosing their action against the gold farmers, and using the registration figures for September (before the rules-change was made) in their IPO registration statement, instead of the October figures.
Gamasutra's "China Angle" reports on The9, Giant Interactive, NCsoft
To North American and European MMO players, China is more than just a different country; it's a different universe. But it's important to keep an at least one eye on the Chinese market. Gamasutra ran its latest "China Angle" column today. Here's what we learned this time. The9, the Chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, will be responsible for the Chinese version of EA's FIFA Online 2. The9 already operates the original FIFA Online in the PRC, and EA owns a 15% share in the company, so that's no surprise. Newer company Giant Interactive -- who are behind the highly profitable Zhengtu Online -- saw a $38.7 million profit in Q3 2007, and all 800 employees of the company were given actual, real-life gold coins in celebration. The company is also actually awarding stocks to some of its customers. Finally, Korean MMO supercompany NCsoft has selected a new partner company called Shandra to distribute their new title AION. NCsoft opted not to work with their old partner Sina this time. The decision to change may have been influenced by disappointing Chinese numbers for Lineage and Lineage II, two NCsoft titles which were brought to the Chinese market by Sina.
Giant Interactive breaks the fourth wall by issuing virtual stocks
In a strange bit of news from the far east, we've just learned that Giant Interactive, the Chinese game developer/publisher behind Zhengtu Online, will be doling out virtual shares of their stocks that will be redeemable for gold in-game, with the in-game value varying depending on the market value of their real-world stock at any given time. Giant Interactive officially goes public on the NYSE this Wednesday.We're still a bit confused by what they mean by issuing stock. Will shares be available for purchase with in-game gold or is it being handed out for free as some sort of PR stunt? If they're using in-game gold (or even real cash), is this an attempt to gain market capitalization? We know China's laws are bit a different than what we're used to, but is this sort of thing even legal? Does it even matter? It is a mystery!Either way, we'll find out soon enough. They'll be issuing the virtual in-game stocks from November 1 through the end of the year. Happy trading![Via Warcry]
Chinese MMO publishers hit the market
China's relationship with MMOs goes much deeper than just RMT scams. In his latest editorial on the Chinese game business for Gamasutra, Shang Koo gives an appraisal of the public offerings of NetDragon and Giant Interactive, two of the premier Chinese game publishers to emerge from the recent gaming boom in the East. Giant Interactive, which is set to premier on the New York Stock Exchange starting this Wednesday, is the publisher responsible for Zhengtu Online, the second-most popular game on the continent since it was released last year. NetDragon, which itself is set to appear on the Hong Kong stock exchange this Friday, developed Eudemons Online and is working with Ubisoft on the upcoming Heroes of Might and Magic.Koo looks at the ways that game sales are affected by the differences in the developer/publisher relationship in China, and forecasts gloomy days ahead for companies trying to license their titles in the enormous Chinese game market, which today is largely dominated by home-grown titles.
