SHANGHAI, July 23 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY)("The9"), an online game operator and developer in China, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with USERJOY Technology Co., Ltd. (3546-TWO)("USERJOY"), an online game developer in Taiwan, for an exclusive license to operate Kingdom Heroes 2 Online, a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game ("MMORPG"), in mainland China.
Kingdom Heroes 2 Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG which stresses on the core feature of Kingdom Wars that maintains a strong community in the game. Kingdom Wars allows hundreds of thousands gamers to fight in the same map. Gamers can bring soldiers and operate the huge siege engine such as catapult to conquer the city; even more, they can experience the exciting vessel battle on the sea.
Kingdom Heroes 2 Online breaks through the original 2.5D side-scrolling restriction and evolves to the 3D characters and scenes. With seamless map, massive content upgrade and new battle mode, it is considered as a popular MMORPG product for our 2010 pipeline.
Ms. Xiaowei Chen, The9’s President, commented: "We are pleased to obtain the exclusive operating license for Kingdom Heroes 2 Online, the highly anticipated product of USERJOY. With its remarkable playability and the strong support of USERJOY, we are confident that Kingdom Heroes 2 Online will be well received by domestic players and achieve great success in Mainland China."
"We are very delighted and honored to be the partner of The9," commented Mr. Michael Shi, Chairman of USERJOY. "We are particularly impressed by The9’s top-notched game operating capabilities and its operational team’s enthusiasm and insight of online games. We believe The9’s operational resources and experiences, together with USERJOY’s continuous efforts in Kingdom Heroes 2 Online’s development, will ensure that players from all over mainland China shall fully enjoy the excitement of a fantasy world of Kingdom Wars."
About The9 Limited
The9 Limited is an online game operator and developer in China. The9’s business is primarily focused on operating and developing high-quality games for the Chinese online game market. The9 directly or through affiliates operates licensed MMORPGs and advanced casual games including Soul of The Ultimate Nation(TM), Granado Espada, EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA Online 2 and Atlantica in mainland China. It has also obtained exclusive licenses to operate other games in mainland China, including Audition 2 and Field of Honor. In addition, The9 is developing various proprietary games, including World of Fighter, Jiu Zhou Zhan Ji, MUX and other MMORPGs and advanced causal games.
About USERJOY Technology
Since its establishment in 1995, USERJOY Technology has specialized in PC online and offline game development. Its Holy Land Online, The Twin Heroes Online, The Legend of Three Kingdom Online, Angel Love Online, and Angel Love 2 Online have been published in Taiwan, North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and have received many applause from overseas gamers. Moreover, The Legend of Three Kingdom Online has brought USERJOY to a new era by achieving the record of 85,000 concurrent users in Taiwan in 2008.
Since 2007, USERJOY has starts to extend its business to online game publishing. Of those titles licensed by abroad developers, Concerto Gate Online, the successful series title of Cross Gate Online, is licensed to USERJOY by Square Enix in 2008. In the same year, USERJOY jointly developed Angel Love Online in PS3 version with Q Entertainment, and have officially launched the Game (the first MMORPG in PS3 platform) in Sept. 2008.
For bringing global gamers more joy and fun, USERJOY has launched IPO in Taiwan Stock Market in April 2008, and hopes to be one of the leading online game companies worldwide.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this press release contain forward-looking statements. The9 may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 20-F and 6-K, etc., in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about The9’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. 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, The9’s limited operating history as an online game operator, political and economic policies of the Chinese government, the laws and regulations governing the online game industry, information disseminated over the Internet and Internet content providers in China, intensified government regulation of Internet cafes, The9’s ability to retain existing players and attract new players, license, develop or acquire additional online games that are appealing to users, anticipate and adapt to changing consumer preferences and respond to competitive market conditions, and other risks and uncertainties outlined in The9’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual reports on Form 20-F. The9 does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Phyllis Sai
IR Manager, Investor Relations
The9 Limited
Tel: +86-21-5172-9990
Email: IR@corp.the9.com
Website: http://www.corp.the9.com/
