CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay-for-merchandise" model for online games in China, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to invest in Auran, a leading developer of online games in Australia.
This is CDC Games' latest investment as part of its previously announced establishment of CDC Games Studio, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Games that will have up to $100 million in investment funding. CDC Games Studio invests in strategic games development partners to accelerate the development of new and original online games for the China market along with supporting emerging games developers with the resources they need to rapidly develop innovative products for distribution in China and targeted global regions. CDC Games Studio also supports emerging game developers which may already have operations in China or are seeking to relocate or expand into China.
CDC Games will invest about (U.S.) $3 million in Auran, and in exchange for providing Auran with strategic advice, CDC Games also will obtain certain rights to receive a percentage of revenues received from Fury. With this investment, John Lee, president of CDC Games, will serve on Auran's board of directors. Auran, one of Australia's most experienced developers of highly successful online games, plans to launch Fury, an innovative game that blends MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and FPS (first person shooter) genres, later this year.
This investment in Auran is the latest in a series of steps taken by CDC Games to deepen its games portfolio, strengthen its move into games development and expand its distribution channels and geographic reach on a global scale.
Recently, CDC Games announced an agreement to form a joint venture with Abandon Mobile to distribute Freaky Creatures, the first mobile community-based game of its kind to combine user created content, strategy, simulation and popular trading card game elements, with true cross-platform gaming connectivity between mobile handsets and personal computers. CDC Games also recently announced its investment in Possibility Space, a developer of free-to-play online games. In late 2006, CDC Games announced its investment in Gorilla Banana, an online games developer from Korea.
Source:佚名