Rumour : BigWorld games licensing in China - The 9 & Netease

from the Busy day in the East dept.

In what appears to be some significant licensing to-ing and fro-ing, we may be able to shortly confirm the following :

1) Netease (NTES) is publishing the BigWorld-powered 'Tianxia 2' in Taiwan through BigWorld licensee, Userjoy.
2) Userjoy themselves are publishing BigWorld-powered Kingdom Heroes II in mainland China through The9.

All of this is assumption and inference at the moment - stay tuned for confirmations.

Opinion : Seeking Alpha - NetEase: Reasons Behind TX2's Success

from the We've only just begun dept.

Seeking Alpha offers up some initial observations surrounding the strong debut of Netease's BigWorld powered title, Tian Xia 2:

TX2 reached 245K PCU during first week of open beta. NetEase's 3D game Tian Xia II (TX2) reached 245000 Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) on September 26, according to my tracking in the chart below. This represents a 32% increase from 185000 on September 19, the day before TX2's open beta. During this 7-day period, TX2's server capacity expanded 36% to 53 server groups. These two data points (32% and 36%) show that TX2's usage level has increased at a similar pace to server additions, and indicate the game's strong ability to attract new users.

Review : Tianxia II by Netease

from the Better reviewed than Dead dept.

After posting some very solid numbers for Tianxia 2 over the weekend, let's head over to MMO Culture to check out Cinderboy's review of this Netease's title :

TianXia 2 is one of the typical oriental fantasy MMORPG churned out from China, but its the really refined graphics, questing and simplicity which really captivated me. The game was actually in Beta a few years back, but I suppose the company, Netease, had to do some financial shifting to acquire the rights for WoW China, hence the long delay for this game. In case you are wondering, WoW China's chaos is soon to end in the coming weeks. Here's my short journey so far as one of the 8 clans available, the pure magic damage clan.

For more on the game, fantastic screenshots and detailed opinion, head over to MMO Culture.

Netease - TX2 strong results for open beta

from the Gather Stats dept

Tian Xia II (TX2) had a strong open beta debut. NetEase (NTES) launched the open beta testing of its 3D game TX2 on Sunday, September 20. According to my tracking in the chart below, TX2 reached 227500 Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) on Sunday, surging 24% from 185000 in Saturday. During the peak time of Sunday, TX2's overall server utilization rate was about 90%, indicating that average popularity per server remained high despite the aggressive expansion of total capacity from 35 to 51 servers (up 46%) since last Friday.

With thanks to Seeking Alpha.

INTC,IBM,NTES,NTES NetEase.com Buys Blade Servers for Tianxia II

INTC,IBM,NTES,NTES NetEase.com Buys Blade Servers for Tianxia II

NetEase.com Inc. (Nasdaq: NTES) lately purchased BladeCenter HS22 blade servers from IBM for the operation of its heavyweight 3D online game Tianxia II.

BladeCenter HS22 adopts Xeon 5500 processors made by Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC; SEHK: 4335). It is redesigned on the basis of former BladeCenter servers, adding many new functions. Analysts believe that BladeCenter HS22 has been the most advanced and strongest game server by far.

NetEase.com spent tens of millions of Chinese yuan for the purchase, showing its great confidence in Tianxia II, which is going to start an open beta test on September 20, 2009.

NetEase.com is a leading online game developer and operator as well as Internet portal. It is currently operating online games such as Fantasy Westward Journey, Westward Journey Online II, Heroes of Tang Dynasty, and Westward Journey 3.

In the second quarter of 2009, the company got gross profits of CNY 692 million or USD 101 million. Its revenues from online game services hit CNY 872 million or USD 128 million. By June 30, its total assets reached CNY 7.4 billion or USD 1.1 billion.

Netease - Genesis: Journey to the West gameplay trailer

from the Not that Genesis, the Other One dept

Netease to Open Beta TX2 today, China - stats/analysis

from the Over in the East dept

On August 26, NetEase (NTES) will release the open beta version of Tian Xia II (TX2), one of its in-house developed 3D games. The open beta will be officially launched on September 20, accompanied by a large-scale advertising campaign. This article discusses TX2's 4Q09 outlook and potential risks, and shows the game's recent trends of Peak and Average Concurrent Users (PCU and ACU).

TX2's PCU will be substantially boosted by aggressive advertising. TX2 is the focus of NetEase's advertising campaign in the second half of 2009, and more than RMB 100 million ($14.6 million) will be allocated to TX2's promotion, according to reports by Sina and Nanfang Daily. My tracking shows TX2 has already reached 160K PCU without much advertising (see chart below). I estimate the heavy advertising surrounding the open beta will propel TX2's PCU to at least 250K in 4Q09.

TX2 players' spending and stickiness will increase significantly. The huge size of TX2's open beta patch (1G - larger than many single games) indicates rich new contents will be added. Currently, TX2's revenues rely heavily on four systems/features: Treasure Box, Soul Pearl (Yuan Hun Zhu), Dresses, and Riding Animals. I believe the open beta version's abundant new contents will diversify TX2's revenue sources, and boost players' spending to a higher level in 4Q09. In addition, the large amount of new contents will increase players' stickiness in 4Q09 because they are likely to spend much time on exploring new maps, tasks, instances (Fu Ben), etc.

TX2 still faces potential risks. Although TX2's game design significantly imitates World of Warcraft (WoW), its skill system, task system, and profession balance still have a long way to go compared with WoW. I believe the open beta version will only partially solve this problem, and a lot of additional R&D efforts are required to improve TX2 after it enters open beta. Although aggressive advertising will boost TX2's PCU in the near term, such PCU levels will not be sustainable if NetEase's R&D efforts on TX2 fail to keep up with the growth in concurrent users.

Thanks to Seeking Alpha.

Genesis Journey to the West goes into closed beta on 3rd.Apr / 《创世西游》于2009年4月3日第一次技术封闭测试

From http://game.people.com.cn/GB/48644/48661/9039203.html
Quick Comment: Genesis Journey to the West, a massive 3D MMOPRG developped by Netease, will go into the first Closed beta on 3rd.Apr.2009

人民网3月27日电　网易旗下“创世工作室”历时四年倾力打造的国产3D东方神幻大作《创世西游》，将于2009年4月3日正式开放第一次技术封闭测试。

网易分别在2002年和2004年推出了《西游三部曲》的前两部——《大话西游》和《梦幻西游》，并以其超凡的游戏品质、丰富多样的玩法和良好的网络社区环境，赢得了无数玩家的喜爱。

《梦幻西游》更以232万同时在线的数据，创造了中国网络游戏的神话。

为了向玩家呈现一副完整的西游画卷，网易于2005年开始正式启动了三部曲的第三部——《创世西游》的开发。经过四年的辛苦耕耘，现在终于可以展现在玩家面前。

作为三部曲中的压轴大作，《创世西游》建立在一个宏大而完整的世界体系之上，在这个世界中，演绎了六道的生成和轮回，五行的起始和寂灭。世界之中的各种生灵，他们的使命与追求，征战与纠葛，生存与死亡，便注定了世界的创始与终结。而西游，便是绽开在这片广袤土地上一朵绚烂的奇葩：唐僧师徒原本是谁？他们为何踏上取经之路？取经的终极意义究竟为何？……这一切，都只是一个开始，一个世界的开始！《创世西游》由此得名。

为了展现一个全新的、更加奇幻瑰丽的中国神话世界，《创世西游》的美术风格既有别于《大话西游》的唯美写实，也不同于《梦幻西游》的Q版可爱，而是采用了一种接近传统中国美术片的风格，场景色彩更加饱满圆润，人物更加活灵活现。神幻瑰丽，丰富辽阔，融合了国风韵味与想象夸张于一身，充满了东方古典之美。
　
游戏采用与《天下贰》相同的BigWorld引擎，支持无缝超大场景和各种华丽的3D效果，单组服务器可支持万人同时在线，是目前世界上最先进的3D多人在线游戏引擎。

Website: http://csxy.163.com/

TX2 continues online growth after recent updates

from the Far out Brussel Sprout that's a lot of people on screen dept.


Not much of a post really, but I have been looking at this screenshot for some time and trying to wrap my head around it - from Netease's BigWorld powered TianXia II, currently operating in China at over 100k PCU :

That's a lot of people.

兵临城下:《天下贰》首部资料片/ Netease will release Tianxia 2 Expansion Set

From http://tx2.163.com/news/2008/8/15/4006_191589.html Dept.

Quick Comment: Netease will release Tianxia 2 Expansion Set:Enemy At The Gates on Sep.24th. A brand new game content will help Tianxia2 to achieve the target of 1 million PCUs.

9月24日，2008年3D网游首选大作《天下贰》将推出第一部资料片：兵临城下。兵临城下将以“三步曲”的方式推出，分别为：演武、远征、攻城。
　　“兵临城下•演武”的主要内容是战场系统，《天下贰》将逐步开放各种战斗模式。其中8月底计划推出的是“蒙面乱斗”模式，类似CS等游戏中的“死亡竞赛”，玩家在战场中遇神杀神遇佛杀佛，体验轻松、爽快、刺激的PK。
　　“兵临城下•远征”的主要内容是开放万众期待的新地图——燕丘南，以及相应的新装备、新副本、新任务、新等级。燕丘南由“江南庭院”“原始森林”“茫茫草原”组成，带玩家进入全新的华夏大地。该部分内容在9月24日全部推出。
　　“兵临城下•攻城”是整个资料片中最激动人心的部分了，资料片将真实再现上古时代的攻城与守城，云梯、冲车等各种攻城器械均会投放，

天下一统增开新服“圣火燎原” / Netease will open new Tianxia 2 server to celebrate the opening of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

From http://tx2.163.com/news/2008/8/5/4006_191268.html Dept.

Quick Comment: Netease will open new Tianxia 2 server to celebrate the opening of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This new game server will be available on 12:00 am Aug.8.2008.

8月8日中午12点，新服等着您：天下一统（大区）－－圣火燎原（服务器）　　“圣火燎原”服为电信服务器，但网易特有的技术将使网通、电信、教育网用户均可畅快游戏。
亲爱的《天下贰》玩家：
　　第二十九届夏季奥运会就将在北京点燃圣火。经过百年期盼，诞生于西方文明发源地的奥运会终于来到了东方的中国，历史悠久的奥林匹克文明与源远流长的中华文明得以实现一次伟大的交汇。
　　百年奥运，百年梦想。回首7年筹办，几多艰辛，几多汗水，几多付出。而今，随着北京奥运会各项筹办工作的就绪，随着奥运会大幕的拉开，热情的中国人民张开双臂喜迎四方佳朋，世界上越来越多的目光转向中国，聚焦北京。
　　“同一个世界、同一个梦想”，这是北京奥运会的主题口号，也是全天下人民为之全身心付出的历史记录和真实写照。承载了中国传统文化“渊源共生，和谐共融”理念的祥云火炬，将跃动不息的奥运圣火带至五大洲，在世界许多地方和中华大地传递，圣火照亮“和谐之旅”，播撒友谊与和平，点燃了世界人民对奥运会的期盼与激情。
　　跨越千山万水的祥云火炬，一路播撒奥林匹克梦想的同时，也在不断汲取新的力量。这力量，来自火炬手金晶的勇敢与镇静；这力量，来自无数海外中华儿女的追随与护持；这力量，来自不同肤色、不同种族人们的祝福与鼓励；这力量，来自“四川加油，中国加油”的激情呐喊。无论大洋彼岸，还是世界之巅，从西方到东方，从老人到孩子，手与手传递，心与心交融。奥林匹克续添的力量，源自人类共同的理想，又将人类的共同理想推向前进！
　　一百年前，民生凋敝，有识之士壮怀激烈：“东亚病夫”何时才能在世界民族之林拥有堂堂正正的一席之地？一百年后，北京成为奥运会东道主，中华民族在复兴之旅中向全人类发出了邀请！
　　奥运会是全世界人民的奥运会，五环旗是全人类共同的旗帜！将在北京点燃的奥运会圣火，是凝聚和见证各国人民梦想、奋斗和收获的全人类之火。让我们张开热情的臂膀——北京欢迎您！
　　为迎接第二十九届夏季奥运会的隆重开幕，为了让更多的玩家领略到2008年3D首选网游《天下贰》的魅力，我们将于2008年8月8日12时开启新服：　　大区：天下一统　　新服：圣火燎原

天下贰将启用全新的形象标识 / Tianxia 2 will use new logo

From http://tx2.163.com/news/2008/8/5/4006_191312.html Dept.

Quick Comment: Netease will use new logo for its famous 3D title---Tianxia 2.


近日，天下贰将启用全新的形象标识来替换原有天下贰的形象标识。新天下贰标识字体厚重大气，笔形苍劲，能更好的表现出天下贰的侠义感和大气感。8月6日更新后，客户端登陆标识已经更新为如下图标：网易将用新的天下贰形象标识替换现在所有场合中天下贰的原有形象标识，给玩家一个崭新的天下贰形象。

摩根士丹利：网易还有50％以上的上涨空间 / Morgan Stanley believes Netease shares undervalued

From http://tech.163.com/08/0722/19/4HFT9J53000915BF.html dept.

Quick Comment: Morgan Stanley Research "50%+ share price upside potential""We believe NetEase is undervalued: We reiterate our OW-V rating on NetEase, with a DCF-based fair value of US$34.8, implying 50%+ share price upside potential."



网易科技讯 北京时间7月22日消息 大摩今日发表报告称，网易推出的在线游戏《天下贰》可能成为又一部惊人之作。
在经过一年的重新开发后，6月网易再次推出了免费网游《天下贰》，2个月内服务器数量将从最初的15台增加到23台。该游戏的最高同时在线用户数已经达到9万-10万（据我们估计，通常每台服务器只能容纳约4000-4500人）。
值得注意的是，搜狐在发布《天龙八部》后股价上涨了近2倍，而巨人网络只运营了2款游戏，市值将达到30亿美元。网易与这些公司相比，有以下几点优势：首先，《天下贰》采用了免费模式，每用户收入（ARPU）不受限制，降低了用户流失率；其次，4月《梦幻西游》的最高同时在线用户数曾达到创记录的210万，而第一季度最高同时在线用户数这有167万，要知道该游戏已经运营了4年多；第三，网易的净现金储备达到5亿美元，据我们观察，该公司正在积极寻求提供游戏授权的机会；第四，过去2年里网易已经4次回购股票。请注意，中国网络公司一旦回购了股票，他们的股价往往会大涨。
因此我们认为，网易股票价值被低估。我们重申对该股的“增持”评级，基于DCF（贴现现金流）计算的公平价值在34.8美元，意味着该股有50%以上的上升空间。
理由是：首先，基于我们对网易08年利润的预期，该股市盈率低于10倍；第二，与其他部门相比，中国网络游戏部门具有反周期性，能抵御经济的低迷。例如，领先的韩国网络游戏公司（NCSoft和NHN）的收入，并未受到韩国市场低迷的影响。

龚峤：创世将超越天下贰 / 'Chuangshi OL' will beyond Tianxia

From the http://news.duowan.com/0807/80235462563.html dept.

在2008届上海Chinajoy现场，多玩游戏网专访了光宇华夏副总经理龚峤，龚峤向多玩记者透露，光宇华夏已经制定了年度目标，一是将问道的最高在线人数提高至100万，二是在年底推出十款新品。
　　结缘《西游Q传》 光宇华夏再度出击回合制市场
　　此次Chinajoy，光宇华夏的重头戏是宣布代理火石开发的《西游Q传》，龚峤表示，火石非常赞赏光宇在回合制网游方面的运营经验，因此非常放心地将《西游Q传》交给光宇。火石上一个获得成功的回合制产品是《水浒Q传》，由金山代理。
　　多玩记者向龚峤问及《问道》成功的原因，龚峤表示，除了产品本身的因素以及与吉比特的愉快合作之外，公司对《问道》的集中投入是成功最关键的原因之一，而光宇华夏自主研发的项目亦不会选择回合制方向，这样与研发商的合作会更为畅通。
　　自主研发瞄准3D MMORPG 第一阶段目标是十万人在线
　　由光宇华夏深圳分部进行研发的《创世》，则是光宇华夏今年寄予厚望的3D MMORPG。《创世》采用了与《天下贰》相同的Bigworld引擎，龚峤表示，作为一款比《天下贰》后上市的产品，《创世》有信心在游戏品质上超越《天下贰》。而针对丁磊16日表示将在一年之内将《天下贰》的在线人数达到100万的言论，龚峤则表示，光宇不希望于在第一款产品上走得太急，十万人在线已经是不错的答卷，而在期间积累的经验以及对引擎潜力的挖掘，光宇会在后续产品中将积累的实力逐渐发挥出来。
　　下半年光宇推出十款新品 看好网页游戏
　　除了《西游Q传》与《创世》，光宇下半年亦有十款新品的上市计划，其中包括了一款网页游戏。针对目前网页游戏生命周期较短的问题，龚峤认为，《猫游记》等游戏已经证明网页游戏的生命周期并不低，光宇自主研发的网页游戏也会拥有较长的生命周期。
　　明年再谈上市 等候网游股利好大环境
　　上季度营收超过3亿的光宇华夏为何极少提及上市计划呢？龚峤向多玩记者表示，最近网游股的大环境并不算好，市盈率普遍低迷，光宇更愿意等待利好环境的出现，再考虑上市的计划。至于时间点，龚峤认为明年或许会公布相关的计划。

丁磊称天下2要在1年内做到100万人在线 / Netease: Tianxia II PCU to Reach 1 M

From the http://news.duowan.com/0807/80152940636.html dept.

Quick comment: Netease (Nasdaq: NTES) CEO William Ding recently said that the company expected concurrent player counts of 3D MMORPG Tianxia II to reach 1 mln within the year. Ding also said that he saw no particular advantage to "community" online games, as online games already satisfy players' needs for social interaction.

7月16日消息，第六届中国国际数码互动娱乐产品及技术应用展览会ChinaJoy将于7月16日至19日在上海国际博览中心举行。丁磊今日在接受多玩游戏、网易科技等少数媒体专访时透露：天下2要在1年内做到100万人在线。
　 盛赞《天下贰》 希望成为游戏业的《功夫熊猫》
　　丁磊在接受专访时不时对《天下贰》赞不绝口，同时他认为这款游戏符合了绿色游戏的标准。他认为，从市场的检验角度来看，大话西游和梦幻西游可以称为他心目中的功夫熊猫，同时他更希望《天下贰》能够成为游戏行业的功夫熊猫。
　　“中国传统好的文化价值都融合在这款游戏里面，例如游戏中的草药都是现实中药的名字。还有打斗的玩法，有个角色是医生，这个职业的一个法术就叫做“润脉”，《天下贰》中的角色技能都是来自中国古文化中的一段。”丁磊介绍说。《天下贰》能做好的是，一个非常大的舞台，有很好的内容要去挖掘。”
　　此外，丁磊也不赞同游戏的快速贬值，他认为这对玩家而言不负责任。“玩家花了2万元玩一个游戏，拿到交易市场可能2千元都卖不到，而大话西游的玩家，花费了5千元的成本，在交易市场依然可以卖5千元。”
　　游戏不同于电影 应该避开浮躁
　　丁磊称，他对一个游戏公司的产品作出评价，不是从媒体处去了解信息，而是通过玩家得到反馈。对于网易而言，对游戏的把关标准就是尽量少犯错误。
　　“电影看了不好，观众没地方抱怨，但是游戏如果玩家觉得不好，很快就可以选择不玩。”丁磊认为，国内的游戏公司应该学习功夫熊猫的导演，他研究中国功夫用了20年的时间，才拍摄出功夫熊猫。丁磊表示，他希望游戏公司能够通过作品来传达积极向上的勤奋价值观，并避开浮躁的潮流。业内一些公司喜欢抓住潮流，但是在游戏本身的品质上却花费的时间不多。
　　对于网易而言，丁磊称未来也会选择代理游戏的道路，但是会有几个选择标准，首先代理游戏不能和网易自己研发的游戏冲突，在整个行业内，游戏作品有回合制、即时战略制、休闲制等，网易如果选择代理，应该是代理哪些网易研发线不具研发能力的作品。
　　就网易与暴雪的合作问题，丁磊表示目前尚没有进一步消息对外披露，如果双方的合作有新进展，将第一时间对外披露。
　　成人游戏也应有基本道德观
　　对于今早史玉柱在游戏高峰论坛上关于巨人只做成人游戏的观点，丁磊提出了自己的不同看法。丁磊认为，成人游戏也应具备自己的价值观。他反对拿着成人游戏当作幌子，把很多不好的东西往产品放到游戏产品中。丁磊称这种走捷径的方式最终伤害的还是自己和消费者。在丁磊看来，国内有相当比例的公司都将一些不好的内容放到了游戏产品中，但是很多人却不敢公开承认。
　　网易仍是互联网公司
　　丁磊强调网易拥有2.5亿注册邮箱用户，每个月的活跃用户达到6000万，因此网易仍是一个互联网公司。
　　“游戏产品容易产生良性的商业模式，电子邮箱的全球范围竞争性比较难带来大量的用户，如果免费邮箱每个人收5元，收入早就超过了游戏。”丁磊表示，对一家公司的判断是游戏公司还是网络公司，不单要看收入，还要看它的主流产品。网易邮箱的影响远远大过游戏。

Tianxia II Live - and videos to boot

from the I want to play it but can't understand it dept.

There are several newish videos available for viewers of TX2 who want to grok the game but unfortunately cannot read or write mandarin. For your enjoyment :

http://czdltx2.163.com/tx2/tx2_blood.rar

The original 2008 trailer, and

http://czdltx2.163.com/tx2/tx2zjj_video.zip

Weapons and skills across the TX2 classes, and

http://czdltx2.163.com/tx2/tx2szx_video.zip

Showcases the numerous fashion options in TX2.

That's all for the moment until someone let's up on some server numbers from behind the silk curtain. Good luck Netease and Mr Ding.

6.6.08 - TX2 in da house

from the Come on out we are ready to play dept :

No link as such, other than to announce that Tianxia II, the heavy mojo Chinese epic MMO from Netease launches today. Watch this space...

Rip your face off, TX2 style

From the Gorgeous but still don't understand it dept :
Here is a link to the hefty but beautiful new trailer from Netease to their upcoming release of Tianxia II, now scheduled for the 6th June 2008 to go open beta. Enjoy.

Netease's Tianxia II - now free to play, in closed beta

from the Under the Heavens dept :

Netease (NTES) of China is in the go-live phase of it's latest opus, Tianxia II. Last year saw a partial release, but it was pulled back for re-development by Netease as discussed here.

The game is currently in testing, limited release mode, and you can grab some great wallpaper action for the title over at fmmorpg.

Tianxia II 'Good and Evil' video

The fan created video of Netease's soon to be released Tianxia II can be viewed here - audio in Mandarin of course. Very pretty indeed.