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Wanted: Firms game enough to distribute Lineage II here
[April 26, 2007]

Wanted: Firms game enough to distribute Lineage II here


(Business Times (Malaysia) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) THE Philippines-based computer game distributor Asian Media Development Group (AMDG) is talking with a few parties to sell the online game Lineage II in Malaysia.

The game, developed by South Korean gaming firm NCsoft Corp, is expected to attract about 100,000 Malaysian subscribers.

AMDG earlier signed a US$5.5 million (RM18.81 million) deal with NCsoft Corp to exclusively market and sell Lineage II in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

AMDG is expected to pump another few million US dollars into gaming servers dedicated for the three countries.

"The game is expected to be commercially launched in July. It will be a simultaneously launch in the three countries," said AMDG chief operations officer Ronald Allan Aquino.

He said the gaming industry in the South-East Asia is very attractive, with some 12 million online gamers in the region so far.

"The number is expected to go up to 20 million," he added.

According to NCsoft Corp head of international business Lee Dong Min, the Malaysian online gaming market is still small compared with that of other countries.

He estimated that the domestic industry is worth not more than US$20 million (RM68.4 million). The South Korean gaming industry is worth at least US$10 million (RM3.42 million) a month, he said.

"Its market is small, but it's growing," Lee said. Lineage games are currently served in South Korea, China, Japan Taiwan, Thailand, North America and Europe. It has more than 14 million subscribers who each pays US$15 a (RM51) month to play the game.



AMDG said the cost of playing Lineage II game will be lower than US$15 a month, and it will be based on a prepaid business model. The company will target both cyber cafes and home users.

Lineage II is a medieval fantasy massively multiplayer online role playing game in which players create characters and develop them into more powerful beings through playing the games.


Copyright 2007 The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Asia Intelligence Wire

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