MMO News |
- Aeria Games reveals numbers and new acquisition
- DC Universe Online going free-to-play
- Interview with Albert Liu, CEO of Gamania
| Aeria Games reveals numbers and new acquisition Posted: 19 Sep 2011 02:31 PM PDT Aeria Games has announced today that its online gaming hub supports over 23 million players globally, and gains an average of one million new registered users each month. The company focus on freemium MMOs and other online games targeted to a “power gamer” audience. Currently, the company publishes over 30 online titles in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Aeria Games has also gained a new mobile game (iOS and Android) that has yet to be named, plus an internal development team from Punch Entertainment, known for social online games. The acquisition is part of Aeria Games’ creation of a new mobile division to develop products for smart phone users.  Grand Fantasia Gameplay Screenshot Source:
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| DC Universe Online going free-to-play Posted: 19 Sep 2011 12:53 PM PDT Sony Online Entertainment has announced that DC Universe Online will be shifting to a free-to-play business model in October. With the new model, “DCUO” will become available for free via download, and will offer three levels of accounts: Free, Premium, and Legendary. Free players will have access to all current content, two character slots, and leagues, but may have to purchase game packs or updates, additional character slots, or powers through the cash shop. Premium players are those who have spent at least $5 in the shop (or who have subscribed at some point in the past), which gain additional character and inventory slots, as well as higher in-game cash limits. Legendary players are those who continue to have a subscription (at $14.99 a month) with full benefits and features. Sony Online Entertainment also publishes EverQuest 2 and Free Realms.  DC Universe Online Gameplay Screenshot Source:
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| Interview with Albert Liu, CEO of Gamania Posted: 19 Sep 2011 11:56 AM PDT It’s the middle of summer in Taiwan, and in a small brick building, representatives from several MMO websites (including MMOHut) are sitting on benches across from a group of Gamania’s executives and public relations representatives. In the center of them – beneath a Gamania Game Show backdrop – sits a man dressed in a black Giants t-shirt and camouflage cargo shorts. This man is Albert Liu, the CEO of Gamania, and he laughs lightly as he tells the room our seriousness is making him nervous. The truth is, we’re a little nervous too – it’s not very often you get to sit down and interview the CEO of a major gaming company in such an intimate setting. Gamania, he explains, began as a small game company created because he was a game programmer out of a job in an industry that practically didn’t exist in Taiwan. From making small games like Convenience Store, Gamania then moved on to licensing games from other developers (namely NCSoft’s Lineage) to grow as a company. Licensing took off so well, Gamania shifted its focus to expanding internationally and developing internally. This is when Gamania built its own R&D (Research and Development) department to build its own games – the efforts of which we’ve seen not only in Lucent Heart, but in the upcoming games shown at the game show itself. When asked what inspired Gamania to "go west" and enter the North American market, Mr. Liu explained that he wants the company to ultimately experience the same success as they have in Asia. This is being approached carefully though, with a "one step at a time" approach so that they can learn their market to reach this goal. However, Gamania doesn’t aim to be different from other East-to-West publishers, or even compete with them. Albert elaborates: there’s many things to learn from these publishers, citing NCSoft and Blizzard as particular inspirations. Instead, Gamania prefers to succeed by learning the market through each game released, learn from each player’s wants and needs, so they can learn from it and publish games that fit the western market.  So what innovations would Gamania like to see in online gaming? Albert says that he’d like to combine mobile devices and MMORPGs in a way that’s more than just to get a pet or check your character information. Two ideas he conveyed included the ability to use a iPhone as a controller, or using an iPad to allow more than one person play at the same time. While these ideas are just imaginings at this point in time, we can expect Gamania to apply its experience with MMOs, mobile, and social gaming to new developments in the future. It was a pleasure to speak with Albert Liu, and as he talked with each of us, there was an atmosphere of honesty and fun behind each answer. Gamania’s vision of its own future is aspiring, but laid with realistic plans and expectations. After two days at the Gamania Game Show, packed with demos and discussions of their new in-house development, we can definitely say the future looks promising so far. The Gamania Game Show (GGS) took place this year on Sept 8 and Sept 9 in Taipei, Taiwan. Press from around the globe, including MMOHut, were invited to take a hands-on look at the game company’s four new games in development – Dream Drops, Langrisser Schwarz, Tiara Concerto, and Core Blaze – as well as other products. |
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