Wait a minute? Empire of Sports? For the uninformed (don’t worry, I was clueless about the game until only a couple of hours ago), here’s a brief backgrounder:

Empire of Sports is an online multisport massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the French company F4. The game was first unveiled at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2007.

Despite having been demo-ed almost two years ago, Empire of Sports is still in what its developer calls a Prologue stage. But it’s open to the public, meaning you can register an account, download the game and play it, presumably from anywhere. If you have more questions go visit the official site.

Going back to the topic, yes, the Giant Interactive Group is set to launch Empire of Sports in China. Here’s the lowdown from online games portal 17173:

Empire of Sports Chinese Technical Test on March 27

Giant Interactive Group recently announced the technical test for Empire of Sports would start on March 27. The limited test keys would be given away soon, the company said.

Empire of Sports is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes place in the first MMO game world with multiple sports. The selection of sports include football, basketball, tennis, skiing, track and field, and bobsleigh.

Players will be able to build up their characters using different training regiments. Depending on how the character’s training progresses, he or she will possess different skill sets and be able to apply them to the appropriate sports. For example, if a character focuses his training on his legs, then he would gain more potential for football, whereas if he concentrates on working out his arms, then he could apply his strength for a formidable tennis serve.

Enough of my prattle. Check out this video trailer of Empire of Sports:

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Of course, what’s a conference without awarding recognition to the best in the industry. Here’s a list of some of the winners and their company profiles:

Shanda Entertainment
Shanda is a leading interactive entertainment media company in China and offers a variety of Internet-based entertainment services, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games, casual games, chess and board games, network PC games, cartoons, literature, and music. Shanda offers popular products and services for its users, and allows them to remotely interact with one another over its community platform. The company offers an easy-to-use payment system, 24/7 customer service, and technical support. Shanda’s interactive entertainment platform attracts a large and loyal user base. As of June 30, 2008, Shanda has over 700 million registered accounts for all its content.

9you
Nineyou, or the Shanghai Everstar Online Entertainment Co. Ltd., is one of the world’s biggest music online game operator, China’s biggest casual game operator, one of the biggest interactive entertainment portal sites in China, which is the first to integrate online game services (MMORPG, massive and medium size casual games, mobile games, etc.), fashion digital entertainment content, a variety of chatting and community services equipped with avatar system, wireless value-added services and other premiere service to the Chinese language Internet users all over the world. With its wide coverage for all major types of user needs related with digital entertainment service, 9you represents the latest services style and newest trend for the digital entertainment provider business in China.

Perfect World
Perfect World Co. Ltd. is a leading online game developer and operator in China. It primarily develops three-dimensional online games based on its proprietary Angelica 3D game engine and game development platform. Perfect World’s strong technology and creative game design capabilities, combined with its extensive local knowledge and experience, enable it to frequently and rapidly introduce popular games designed to cater to changing customer preferences and market trends in China.

Speaking of Perfect World, the developer of popular MMORPGs like Perfect World, Zhu Xian and Chibi also bagged an award as one of the best product developers aside from game company of the year.

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Here’s an excerpt from a 17173 story on the huge figures:

According to the Chinese Online Game Market Survey for the first quarter of 2008, a report published by Analysis International, the toal revenue of the industry has reached RMB 3.985 billion, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 14 percent.

With a market share of 18.7 percent, Shanda kept its lead in the market, followed by NetEase at 13.3 percent, The9 at 11.5 percent, and Giant Interactive at 11.3 percent.

whew! I’m sure a lot of Western online game developers are setting its sights on China, one of the biggest markets for MMOs. I wish them luck —they’re going to need it, especially with the stiff competition not only from China-based developers but also those from Korea, the seat of MMORPG power in Asia.

Image downloaded from Shanda’s website and modified by Joel. Image features characters from The Sign, a 3D MMORPG developed and published by Shanda Entertainment.

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In an interview published in China’s biggest video games portal, Yuzhu Shi, chairman of Giant Interactive, delivered that exact line, and went even further by submitting the idea that Giant Online would be one of the most popular games of 2008.

No, no, I have nothing against the man and his product. I’m just expressing dismay at the continuous churning out of new MMORPG titles only to be disappointed with the gameplay, the characters, the graphics, the sound … the list goes on. And I’m afraid that this Giant Online may turn out to be just a clone of another game.

Hmmm, let’s see. I’ll let you read the big announcement from Giant Interactive and tell me what you think about Giant Online:

Giant Interactive Group Inc. has announced plans for Giant Online to begin open beta testing on March 28.

Giant Online is the company’s second self-developed game. It is a free-to-play 2.5D massively multiplayer online role-playing game featuring a modern military theme. Players may choose their characters in one of fourteen different roles, such as engineers or spies. Giant Online will provide players with a wide selection of modern weapons and equipment, such as guns and airplanes, and allow player characters to engage in friendship and even romance. To further enhance the level of interactivity, Giant Online will utilize the company’s server technology that allows for single-shard play by one million concurrent users.

“Giant Online is doing well during the closed beta testing process. We are receiving positive feedback from our beta testers and we have been able to further refine the gameplay in accordance with players’ requests. I believe Giant Online will be even more welcomed by gamers in the upcoming open beta test,” said Yuzhu Shi.

I don’t know about you, but the game smacks of the massively multiplayer online shooter game WarRock and Electronic Arts’ Battlefield series. I sincerely hope it’s not the same game in a slightly modified package.

Post from: MMOtaku