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SpongeBob. SquarePants. MMO.
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? EVERYONE. MTV Asia and GigaMedia are co-developing and publishing an MMO based on cultural icon SpongeBob SquarePants. The massively multiplayer oceanic online game launches in 2011 for the markets of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India. It is the first Viacom (MTV's parent company) MMO to be developed outside the US. The free-to-play title will naturally have an online store for virtual citizens of Bikini Bottom to purchase items ... like, bikini bottoms? More details on the game will be announced closer to launch. Meanwhile, we expect to see at least ten online petitions demanding this game to be brought to the rest of the world.
Mythic wages WAR in the East
While NCsoft prepares to invade the West with Aion this September, Mythic has their own preemptive RvR strike planned for the East. Both Mythic and Gigamedia are bringing Warhammer Online to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on June 25th. This means people can now play WAR in North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. That's quite a global presence.It will be interesting to see what impact this has on WAR's subscriber count in the next quarter. When WAR originally launched in September 2008, they sold over 750,000 copies. That number dropped to 300,000 by December 2008. After a couple big marketing campaigns (recruit a friend and re-enlistment) and a launch in Russia, WAR's numbers held steady at 300,000 in March 2009.Could this Eastern launch propel them beyond the 300,000 mark again? Based on all the Land of the Dead coverage and impressions we've seen, the new live expansion should have some sort of positive effect on the game as well. I guess we'll have to wait until the next EA earnings call to find out, which should take place in August.
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: Will WAR be subscription-based in Taiwan or use another income model (e.g., time cards)? What other Asian countries are EA and Mythic considering for WAR in the future? We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
EA gets Warhammer Online ready for Asian market
EA is getting all its orcs, elves and other fantasy creatures in a row over in Asia for the eventual release of EA Mythic's Warhammer Online. EA announced that it has entered into an agreement with GigaMedia to launch and operate WAR in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.Working with the team at EA Mythic, GigaMedia will handle marketing, community management, technical support, customer service functions and details regarding the release which "will be announced in the months ahead." With any luck, this means EA is actually putting effort and thought behind Warhammer Online instead of just throwing it to the wolves like the ill-fated Earth and Beyond. That pile-o-WoW-cash sitting at Activision-Blizzard must be acting as a positive influence.
EA signs agreement for WAR distribution in Asia
A press release went out today on the wire announcing that EA had signed an agreement with a Taiwanese company called GigaMedia to distribute Warhammer Online in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. According to the terms of the agreement, GigaMedia will be responsible for the advertising, community management, customer service, and technical support for those areas. Doing some cursory research on the company on the 'net, it seems like GigaMedia has really cut their teeth on more casual game distribution efforts, their biggest property being FunTown, the world's largest MahJong platform. They appear to be getting more serious about their game development and distribution efforts however, and initiated a relationship with EA last year by agreeing to release, of all games, NBA Street Online.What will really be interesting now that they've secured release efforts in the surrounding areas, is what approach EA will take to get Warhammer Online introduced onto the Chinese mainland. A week ago today we reported on a new policy of the Chinese government that would allow any domestic game publisher to effectively block the release of a foreign MMO by referring it to China's censorship board indefinitely. With that policy in place, are Chinese MMO companies going to allow the release of a game owned by one of the most prolific American game publishers in the world? You have to imagine EA is hard at work on it, given the size of the potential market there, but only time will tell.
GigaMedia partners with XLGames for world-rocking new MMO
GigaMedia Limited has issued a press release to say that they are investing in and partnering with XLGames, a development studio headed by Jake Song. Song is known for being the creator of Lineage and also The Kingdom of the Winds. GigaMedia has gained board representation and some strategic rights to XLGames after their investment.President of GigaMedia Thomas Hui said, "We are thrilled to partner with such a tremendously talented team and look forward to working closely with them on their new MMORPG, which should rock the world." There are no other details yet on this new MMO, but Song brings quite a pedigree to the project with the aforementioned games and having been NCSoft's Executive Vice President at one point, so we will fortify nearby buildings in anticipation of further announcements.[Via Yahoo Finance]
