BEIJING, January 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- KongZhong Corporation (NASDAQ:KONG), a leading provider of digital entertainment services for consumers in the PRC, successfully released one of its self developed mobile games, Kooky Three Kingdoms, on January 6th to the China market. It was simultaneously released on multiple smartphone game platforms including 360, UCWeb, 91, PP, Peasecod, Duoku and Gfan, etc. On two of China's leading smartphone game channels, 360 and 91, players have given Kooky Three Kingdoms some of the platform's highest ratings, demonstrating the strong market acceptance of the game. As part of the game's open beta promotion, KongZhong invited one of the most popular Chinese music band leaders, Da Zhangwei, to collaborate on the launch, helping to support the game's branding as a premium quality smartphone mobile game. In the first three days after its release, Kooky Three Kingdoms's Baidu index has increased by 600%, making it one of most popular mobile games in 2014.
According to data from the Chinese iOS app store, on the third day after launch, Kooky Three Kingdoms has soared to No.7 spot on the overall free application download list, the No.4 spot on the overall game download list and the No.1 spot on the RPG game genre download list.
According to China's most authoritative analytics platform Baidu index, in the first three days after open beta launch, player search volume increased drastically by 600%. With strong controls on rank cheating on the App store such that the China App Store more accurately reflects true market demand, KongZhong has demonstrated its strong ability in marketing and branding to become a leading player in the China smartphone mobile game market.
The head of the Kooky Three Kingdoms' development team said that the team has always focused on a single one principle, "Product First," to ensure the highest game quality. This achievement in the App Store enhances this principle and brings more confidence in both the Company's future R&D and mobile game operations.
Kooky Three Kingdoms has already planned its publishing strategy for the rest of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. At Korea's Gstar 2013, the game garnered the attention of numerous overseas publishers, and received the Highest Quality Mobile Game Award. The localization work for Kooky Three Kingdom's foreign versions has largely been completed, and the game will soon be released to overseas markets with an early stage focus on the APAC markets, including plans to cooperate with major Japanese and Korean mobile distribution platforms.
As an important growth driver for KongZhong, the Company has established 10 mobile game development studios in Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Tianjin. KongZhong currently has a portfolio of 4 self developed smartphone games, namely Pocket Fort, Heroes of the Three Kingdoms OL, Highlord, and Kooky Three Kingdoms, in commercial operation. In 2014, Kongzhong's smartphone game strategy will continue to develop and publish 6 to 10 additional high-quality mobile games.
Being the first smartphone mobile game released in 2014, Kooky Three Kingdoms has already achieved a strong start and the Company expects a similar reception as the game is introduced to the APAC markets in the coming months.
About Kooky Three Kingdoms
"Kooky Three Kingdoms" is a Chinese Three Kingdoms era, fantasy themed MMORPG mobile game. It includes numerous play options, such as board game adventures, competitive battles, General Soul collection, and mercenary cultivation. In the game, players can collect over 200 General Souls with various images. After equipping them, players can obtain corresponding general's appearance and abilities, transforming into Guan Yu, Diao Chan, Lu Bu, Zhang Fei, etc., and write their own history of the Three Kingdoms.
About KongZhong
KongZhong (NASDAQ:KONG), listed in Nasdaq in 2004, is one of the leading providers of digital entertainment services for consumers in the PRC. We operate three main business units, namely WVAS, mobile games and Internet games. Within Internet games, KONG has the exclusive publishing rights for World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, World of Warships, Guild Wars 2 and other titles in mainland China. Since the acquisition of our proprietary smartphone game engine platform in 2011, KONG has expanded our smartphone game development team across 4 cities in China currently developing over 10 smartphone games across various genres, including MMORPG, RTS, military, and fantasy.