Rumor: The9 Licenses 'Wolong Legend' for RMB 10 Mln
DoNews, 11/26/13
Shanghai-based online game developer and operator The9 (Nasdaq: NCTY) has purchased the exclusive operating rights for Three Kingdoms-themed mobile card game Wolong Legend from Shanghai-based mobile game developer Unico for more than RMB 10 mln. The exact terms of the transaction will be revealed this week, according to Unico.
Editor's Note: Wolong Legend was first unveiled on October 25 at Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group's AliCloud Convention. The game uses servers provided by Alibaba Cloud Computing (AliCloud). Wolong Legend gained media attention due to its similarity with Blizzard's cross-platform free-to-play strategy card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. According to reports, the game took two programmers working 20-hour days a total of 20 days to finish. On November 11, Unico kicked off closed beta testing of the game on Android and jailbroken Apple platforms. The company will maintain player data after testing.
Unico is a Shanghai-based independent game development team that was established in July 2011. The company also has a studio in Hangzhou. According to Unico, Wolong Legend is different enough from Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft so as not to constitute copyright infringement. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft employs the Unity 3D game engine, while Wolong Legend utilizes the coco2D-x engine. The subject matter and artistic styles of the two games differ slightly, according to Unico.
Keywords: Wolong Legend Unico The9 wireless operating rights NCTY Hearthstone mobile gaming licensing fee
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