CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation (CHINA), says it has accelerated expansion into the development of online games through the establishment of a subsidiary to be named CDC Games Studio.
CDC Games Studio expands the scope of the Online Games Developer Partner Program announced in August of 2006. The original partner program was funded by up to US$20 million and focused on investments in strategic games development partners to accelerate the development of new and original online games for the China market. CDC Games Studio will continue to place strategic investments with selected game developers and also support emerging game developers with the resources they need to rapidly develop innovative new games. The geographic scope of CDC Games Studio will also expand beyond China to include the development of games for additional targeted geographies. The original US$20 million investment ear-marked for the partner program will be increased to a total of up to US$100 million to support the broader scope of CDC Games Studio.
"We've established CDC Games as a leading publisher of online games in China and our goal is to leverage that foundation to become a leading, global developer of online games," said Xiaowei Chen, Ph.D., CEO of CDC Games. "Establishing CDC Games Studio is an important, foundational piece of this strategy as we grow beyond games distribution, into development. By expanding our Games Developer Program into CDC Games Studio, we'll position CDC Games as a leader in distribution and development of world class online games in China, as well as for global export."
CDC Games Studio seeks to attract talented games development companies around the world, including those in Korea, the United States, Europe and China, which may already have operations in China or are seeking to relocate or expand into China to take advantage of the broad market demand for new games, abundance of available talent in China for games development, and local tax incentives available to companies developing games for domestic distribution as well as for export. Resources which CDC Games Studio could offer such companies include: office space, development and technology resources such as site licenses with game related technology companies, partnerships with hardware and platform partners, as well as direct capital support. The expanded investment in CDC Games Studio will be used to fund the creation of new online games, as well as the acquisition of rights to develop world-class games titles in China, with the goal of publishing and distributing them on a global scale. Targeted areas of interest include educational games, games based on historical events, games based on scientific and problem-solving scenarios, as well as games based on popular entertainment and comic titles.
"The online games development industry in China is still in its early stages, with many emerging start-ups," said John Lee, president of CDC Games. "Through CDC Games Studio, we have an excellent opportunity to establish CDC Games as the partner of choice for global companies seeking investment to accelerate development or seeking to set up their in-house development operations in China."
CDC Games is in the final stages of negotiation with new games developers and expects to announce their participation shortly in the CDC Games Studio.
