Netease's iTown Platform to Launch 9 Games
Tencent Tech, 2/21/12
Cen Jinyu, manager of Chinese online game developer and operator Netease's (Nasdaq: NTES) self-developed client-based 3D social gaming platform iTown, has announced over 5,000 developers are producing approximately 200 games for the platform, nine of which have been approved, and iTown is scheduled to begin open beta testing in May.
The iTown platform has three separate sections: SDK developers, platform construction, and third-party games. The SDK, released in March 2011, allows developers to freely use the platform's nearly 10,000 graphics and 1,000 music resources. Netease has already invested several tens of millions of RMB in the platform since its launch. Netease CEO William Ding has previously stated that iTown has two core goals: first, to be the core platform for Netease's focus on the casual gaming market, and second, to provide a platform for Netease's iGate program to support third-party game developers.
Cen added that Netease plans to integrate iTown into its gaming, e-mail, and portal businesses, and invest heavily in a major promotional campaign.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Netease Launches Mini-Game SDK for Social MMO," MD 3/09/11 issue, and "Netease Launches iGate Program," MD 12/06/10 issue.
Keywords: Cen Jinyu William Ding Netease Internet iTown NTES iGate self-developed game 3D game online gaming
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