Sina Technology News, 7:30 AM Eastern Time on March 23 (7:30 PM Beijing Time on March 23) - China.com Games announced today that it has reached a final agreement with MGame to make a strategic investment in the latter. MGame is a leading game developer in South Korea and the popular online game "Rivers and Lakes" operated by China.com Games was developed by this company. China.com Games is a subsidiary of the NASDAQ-listed China.com Investment Group (Nasdaq: CHINA).
According to the agreement reached by both parties, China.com Games will become the largest external shareholder of MGame, and James Lee (John Lee), president of China.com Games, will serve as an observer on the board of directors of MGame. Through this investment, China.com Games has transformed from an authorized customer of MGame into its largest external investor, while also obtaining the exclusive distribution rights for MGame's next massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Feng Lin Huo Shan" in China. "Feng Lin Huo Shan" is one of the top ten most anticipated games in China, and many of its core developers come from the "Rivers and Lakes" project. In addition to obtaining the authorization for "Feng Lin Huo Shan," China.com Games has also extended the authorization for "Rivers and Lakes" until 2010.
As China's first online game to adopt the "free-to-play" model, "Rivers and Lakes" has continued to grow and has been operating smoothly for 20 months since its commercial launch. As of the end of February 2007, the number of registered users for "Rivers and Lakes" has increased to 46.5 million. The continuous growth in the number of registered users for "Rivers and Lakes" indicates the ongoing expansion of China.com Games' centralized online gaming platform. Through this centralized gaming platform, users can log in to multiple online games offered by China.com Games using a single account and use a universal virtual currency across all games. This platform greatly enhances the flexibility for users to choose online games and helps build long-term brand loyalty for China.com Games.
This is the latest investment made by China.com Games after establishing its online game development park, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China.com Games with a total investment fund of $100 million. The online game development park will invest in strategic game development partners to accelerate the development of new and original online games for the Chinese market. The online game development park will continue to make strategic investments in selected game developers and provide resources needed for new game developers to quickly develop innovative games. (Martin)