Despite the massive devastation of China’s recent earthquake, CDC Games, headquartered in China, said today that its revenues for its online games have rebounded almost immediately. Judging by the images on the news, it’s easy to doubt that any Chinese are in the mood to play – but CDC says that’s not so, despite the fact that its game service was suspended for three days due to the tragedy.
“In fact, on May 24, 2008 daily revenues for CDC Games were 1.3 million RMB, or approximately (U.S.) $187,000. In addition, the company has seen strong revenue growth from Shaiya, a massively multiplayer online role playing fantasy game (MMORPG) launched by CDC Games in December 2006.”
China’s online RPG culture dwarfs online gaming anywhere else in the world, and it’s interesting to see that even (or especially) in the wake of a tragedy, gamers are making room for their favourite pastime. The image shown here, from CDC’s Shaiya Online, is certainly much more comfortable to look at than this gallery of Seattle Times images from the centre of the devastation.
Aeria Games, who launched their North American Dream Of Mirror Online beta earlier this week, is readying another MMO beta test for launch later this month. Shaiya is one of the most popular MMORPG’s in Korea (aren’t they all?), featuring a healthy dose of fantasy RPG swords and sorcery in a battle between the Union of Fury and the Alliance of Light. They promise epic realm vs realm combat , tons of PvP for those so inclined, and interesting concepts like bootleg warehouses where members of opposing factions can meet and exchange wares. The website also mentions executions, which I can only dream is a handy new way of dealing with griefers. The Shaiya beta starts on November 26th, with signups currently being accepted at http://shaiya.aeriagames.com.
