Li Yifei, president of Shanghai-headquartered 37wan.net, announced that the company has invested USD2.1 million to purchase the new domain 37.com and officially renamed the company 37 Game as he aims to accelerate overseas market expansion.
Li said the market for web game exports is optimistic and it is a necessary way for gaming companies to expand into overseas markets. He revealed that 37 Game will launch its mobile game distribution in China and abroad simultaneously. By choosing 37.com as their new domain, the company aims to help global users remember their game brand. He did not reply to questions about the phenomenally high amount of money paid for the domain name.
Even with this new domain name for overseas expansion, visits to 37.com from the U.S. and Europe still show the Chinese-language page.
37 Game first entered the overseas markets in 2012 and their businesses currently cover Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North America.
Shunrong Auto Parts previously acquired a 60% stake in this Chinese web game developer for CNY1.925 billion, including 28% purchased from Li.
The company predicted that 37 Game's net profit in 2013 will not be lower than CNY220 million.