CDC Mobile, a mobile and portal unit of chinadotcom corporation, today announced that its subsidiary, hongkong.com Corporation, added a leading Korean online game, Travia, into its online game portfolio through its strategic investment in Beijing 17game Network Technology Co. Ltd (17game).
According to a Korean online game magazine, Travia, which is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), ranked as one of the top five online games in the Korean online game market, in terms of total aggregate play-time, among commercialized online games and online games in testing phases. In addition to 3D visual effects, Travia is also embedded with 3D EAX sound effects which enable game players to play in a more exciting and close-to-reality environment. 17game expects to launch Travia in the China market within the second quarter of this year.
17game has a track record in launching and distributing online games in the China market. Currently, 17game operates an online game which is considered by an IT magazine in the PRC to be one of the top 10 online games in the China market and is expected to launch another new online game, Yulgang, this year. 17game has a well-established distribution network across China for the games it licenses, including Internet cafes, software distributors, bookstores and department stores. The strategic investment in 17game enables chinadotcom to expand in the high growth online games sector in China and further strengthen the existing vertical online game channel of its portal.
While 17game currently does not have a financial impact on hongkong.com, the contemplated transaction is expected to enable hongkong.com to ultimately acquire a controlling position in 17game over time, with consideration to be paid on an earn-out formula based on a single-digit earnings multiple over the next two years. There is no certainty of successful integration of 17game's products and services into hongkong.com's existing operations, and no assurance that the Korean online games introduced into China will be accepted into the local market place.