BEIJING, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU), China's leading online media, search, gaming, community and mobile service group, today announced that its online game subsidiary, Changyou.com Limited ("Changyou") (NASDAQ: CYOU) began open beta testing of Tao Yuan, an inhouse-developed 3D turn-based martial-arts massively multi-player online role-playing game ("MMORPG") on May 24, 2012.
Adapted from legendary stories of heroes in the Three Kingdoms period in China, Tao Yuan is a turn-based game developed using the Unreal3 game engine. In the game, players strategically position fighting characters on a 3x5 grid and take turns to attack and defend. Unlike typical turn-based games, turns are determined by an "active time battle" system that adds a time-keeping meter for each character during combats. When the meter is full, players are given an opportunity to attack or defend their characters, but must respond swiftly or else their turn expires. This combination of a 3x5 grid and an "active time battle" system makes gameplay more challenging and exciting as it tests players' responsiveness, skills and ability to strategize within a short-time frame. In addition, players can choose from a total of 17 occupations and can interchange between occupations freely in the game. In full screen mode, the game features beautifully rendered 3D characters and landscapes.
Mr. Dewen Chen, Changyou's president and chief operations officer, commented, "We continue to grow our portfolio of MMO games with the launch of our new inhouse-developed game, Tao Yuan. The game adds new variations to gameplay that is not typically found in traditional turn-based games. We expect the game to attract new audiences and draw in more players of turn-based games that will help to grow and diversify our user base."
About Changyou
Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) is a leading developer and operator of online games in China with a diverse portfolio of online games that includes Tian Long Ba Bu, one of the most popular massively multi-player online ("MMO") games in China, and DDTank, one of the top-ranking Web-based games in China. Changyou also owns and operates the 17173.com Website, a leading game information portal in China. Changyou began operations as a business unit within Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) in 2003, and was carved out as a separate, stand-alone company in December 2007. It completed an initial public offering on April 7, 2009. Changyou has an advanced technology platform that includes advanced 2.5D and 3D graphics engines, a uniform game development platform, effective anti-cheating and anti-hacking technologies, proprietary cross-networking technology and advanced data protection technology. For more information about Changyou, please visit http://www.changyou.com/en/.
About Sohu.com
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is China's premier online brand and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese, providing a network of web properties and community based/web 2.0 products which offer the vast Sohu user community a broad array of choices regarding information, entertainment and communication. Sohu has built one of the most comprehensive matrices of Chinese language web properties and proprietary search engines, consisting of the mass portal and leading online media destination www.sohu.com; interactive search engine www.sogou.com; #1 games information portal www.17173.com; the top real estate website www.focus.cn; #1 online alumni club www.chinaren.com; wireless value-added services provider www.goodfeel.com.cn; leading online mapping service provider www.go2map.com; and developer and operator of online games www.changyou.com/en/.
Sohu corporate services consist of online brand advertising on its matrix of websites as well as bid listing and home page on its in-house developed search directory and engine. Sohu also offers wireless value-added services such as news, information, music, ringtone and picture content sent over mobile phones. Sohu's online game subsidiary, Changyou.com (NASDAQ: CYOU) has a diverse portfolio of online games that includes Tian Long Ba Bu, one of the most popular massively multi-player online ("MMO") games in China, and DDTank, one of the top-ranking Web-based games in China. Sohu.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China's internet pioneers, is in its sixteen year of operation.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sohu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the current global financial and credit markets crisis and its potential impact on the Chinese economy, the uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in Sohu's quarterly operating results, and Sohu's reliance on online advertising sales, online games and wireless services (most wireless revenues are collected from a few mobile network operators) for its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Sohu's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
In China:
Eric Yuan
Sohu.com Inc.
Tel: +86 (10) 6272-6593
E-mail: ir@contact.sohu.com
In the United States:
Mr. Jeff Bloker
Christensen
Tel: +1 (480) 614-3003
E-mail: jbloker@ChristensenIR.com
