Blizzard switches World of Warcraft partner in critical China
Blizzard Entertainment, owner of the massively popular World of Warcraft game, has switchted distribution partners in the increasingly important Chinese market.
Blizzard will now work with NetEase.com to distribute and operate the game for the next three years in China, following the expiration of a deal with The9. The change isn’t surprising, since Activision Blizzard’s chief rival, Electronic Arts, holds an ownership stake in The9.
China is one of the fastest growing games markets, because of its… Continue Reading
Blizzard cuts deal with NetEase.com to take Starcraft II to China
The original “StarCraft” is one of the most successful video games of all time. The sci-fi real-time strategy game debuted more than a decade ago and had sold more than nine million copies by spring of last year.
No doubt the sales would have been even bigger if the game had global distribution from the start. With years of experience in China behind it, the game publisher now looks like it will be aggressive about launching… Continue Reading
China’s The9 invests $38 million in G10 online gaming company
Shanghai-based online games operator The9 announced it has acquired a minority stake in Korea’s G10 Entertainment for $38 million.
G10 is developing casual online games, including a franchise series dubbed “Audition” which has a strong following in China. G10 has eight games in development in addition to the Audition series. The9 operates a number of online games in China, including Audition 2 and Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” and “Hellgate: London.”
The9 also creates and operates its own… Continue Reading