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Perfect World buys into Shanda Games for $100 million
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that it will enter into a share purchase agreement with rival Chinese MMO company Shanda Games Limited for 30 million shares valued at $100 million. The purchase is expected to finalize in 30 days. Shanda Games publishes over 20 MMOs for the Chinese market, including Aion, Luvinia Online, and Final Fantasy XIV. This proposed agreement, as well as agreements with other top companies, would put the total value of Shanda at around $1.9 billion.
Frogster announces new Eligium MMO, reveals cinematic trailer
Most modern MMORPGs are all about making thousands of players feel like mighty heroes, but Frogster's newest endeavor is taking that concept to another level if the game's title is anything to go by. A new cinematic trailer for Eligium - The Chosen One was just announced, and the game itself will be shown off later this week at Gamescom 2011. The free-to-play fantasy title "challenges players to see if they have what it takes to be the chosen one and free the world from the invading demonic hordes," according to a Frogster press release. Eligium was actually developed by a Chinese firm called Shanda Games Ltd. (Frogster is serving as the publisher), and the title will be launching in the first quarter of 2012 to the English, German, French, and Polish markets. In terms of gameplay, Eligium features five playable race/class combinations (including panda fighters), extensive crafting and item upgrade options, and group instances as well as world boss battles. There's also a bit of PvP on offer and guild systems designed to bring factional warfare to the forefront. Frogster's press material also mentions player housing and a pet/mount-hatching system. You can glimpse the first official Eligium trailer after the break.
Frogster acquires unnamed Shanda Games MMORPG
Frogster's online gaming portfolio just got a bit bigger, though details are scarce as to the name and the nature of the company's newest acquisition. The German publishing giant, most famous for bringing Runes of Magic to the masses, announced that it has secured the rights to a new fantasy MMORPG from Shanda Games, a Chinese developer. The unnamed title will reportedly distinguish itself by featuring a setting developed expressly for Western audiences, and Frogster plans to launch the game using a free-to-play business model some time in 2012. "This deal with Shanda Games adds yet another prominent MMORPG to our portfolio. By licensing the game for North America and Europe, we have taken another step in establishing Frogster as one of the leading MMO game publishers in the world," said Andreas Weidenhaupt, a Frogster executive board member.
Final Fantasy XIV, like Nixon, can in fact go to China
The Chinese market for MMOs is immense, but it's also a market that's proven remarkably resistant to foreign intrusion. (We don't need to recount the whole saga of World of Warcraft over there.) But in addition to launching nearly everywhere else, it looks as if Final Fantasy XIV will also be going into the Chinese market in a partnership with Shanda Games Limited. This comes after Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada had mentioned a year ago that the company wished to pursue business partnerships with companies inside mainland China. Shanda Games Limited will most likely be operating the servers for the game, which will remain separate from the "normal" servers -- the only region-locked servers that the game is currently set to have, as a point of fact. There's no word on when the game will launch, either, simply that it is in the pipeline for release thanks to the new partnership. The rest of the world, of course, will get to start enjoying Final Fantasy XIV on the 30th (or the 22nd with the collector's edition). [Thanks to FusionX for the tip!]
