LineKong launches Journey to the West

I’m getting confused by the translation of titles from Chinese to English. Last time I checked, this latest online game from LineKong Entertainment Technology Co. Ltd. was called Blooded Westward Journey. Recently, online games portal 17173 labeled the game as Westward Journey. Now, in an official press release from LineKong, what was once known as Blooded Westward Journey and simply Westward Journey is now Journey to the West. Fortunately, the title of an MMORPG doesn’t really impact much on how it is received by players.

Here’s an excerpt from the official announcement:

LineKong Entertainment Technology Co. Ltd., a leading third-generation enterprise in the Chinese online gaming industry, has officially launched its first independently developed game Journey to the West. This is the first time that LineKong has demonstrated its own research and development strength since its establishment, and this product is currently the only online game based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.

As a 2D massively multiplayer online action role-playing game, Journey to the West is developed by Neptune Studio, a subsidiary of LineKong. The game uses LineKong’s self-developed game engine and is designed to truly reproduce the “Havoc in Heaven,” “Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon,” “Havoc in the Dragon King’s Palace,” and other classic plot points from the story. At the same time, the game will stay true to the elements of the novel that people are familiar with in a realistic way so that players can truly experience the original Journey to the West.

“Journey to the West is the heavyweight masterpiece which has been in development since the establishment of LineKong. The game was developed by our domestic, first-class R&D team which is up to one hundred members. I believe that this realistic style game will break the current market status of themes on the westward journey. At the same time, it is a signal which declares that LineKong will enter into the phase of mass production. And for the third generation online game enterprise, it is also the foundation of our rapid rise,” said Wang Feng, chief executive officer of LineKong.

LineKong is a young interactive entertainment enterprise founded in March of 2007. The company specializes in the development and operation of online games. LineKong has built a perfect R&D center, an operation and service center, and a marketing and sales network covering all of China. The company has many large online games such as The Legend of Kung Fu, Hero, Warrior King, and Super Adventurer, and its products can be categorized as turn-based games, ARPGs and casual games.

Concept artwork for Journey to the West downloaded from the LineKong site.