Leading Chinese Game Publisher Shines at E3
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – June 19, 2015 – NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) hit an all-time high in its stock price on Wednesday, June 17, during one of the gaming industry’s top conferences, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). With its focus on online game research and development, NetEase Games dominated the #1 spot on the Chinese App Store. The company was also recognized as the fifth largest mobile game publisher in the global App Store by revenue as of April 2015, according to App Annie.
In 2015, NetEase products continue to show strong momentum and opportunities for growth in new markets. NetEase’s quality mobile games for the Chinese market including Fantasy Westward Journey, Battle to the West and Tom and Jerry, all performed outstandingly, and the companies’ expansion into the West in the first half of 2015 deepened the influence of the Chinese brand in the global market.
NetEase’s first game for the global market, Speedy Ninja, is a sequel to the critically acclaimed title Ninja Must Die. Originally launched in China, Speedy Ninja is a new twist on the endless runner genre with an Asian calligraphy art style and competitive game mechanics. The acrobatic adventure features a robust leaderboard players can climb by completing daily missions. The ability to control a colorful cast of characters, collect battle gear, and summon mystical monsters transcends the reflex-testing game into a pulse-racing, strategic challenge. Speedy Ninja recently soft-launched in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and will roll out to additional Western markets during the Q3 of 2015.
NetEase continues to expand its reach around the globe with its library of games while simultaneously sharing Chinese culture to a worldwide audience, a key initiative in the company’s global strategy. NetEase’s dedication to top-quality self-developed games is evident in the company’s continued success.
For over a decade, the success of NetEase’s self-developed PC game, Fantasy Westward Journey 2, has long represented the strength of Chinese gaming brands in the competitive online gaming market. The mobile version of the game has reached the #1 spot on Top Grossing charts in China within just two months of launch. With over 20 million registered users, Fantasy Westward Journey currently has 2.04 million concurrent players.
Sharing the same “Journey to the West” theme, NetEase’s new 3D action mobile game Battle to the West is a perfect mix of MOBA, RPG and hero-driven adventure. Battle to the West is a competitive title with beautiful graphics and the first to be featured in a mobile game competition by the General Administration of Sports of China. At IET World Cyber Games, Battle to the West set a new record in China with over one million people watching the live broadcast, becoming the number one eSports mobile game.
In addition, NetEase recently released another well-known franchise in China, Tom and Jerry, which saw more than five million downloads within two weeks of launch. The early success is representative of NetEase’s ability to adapt IP to mobile games and displays the company’s advanced, proprietary game development technology.
At this year’s E3, NetEase presented Westward Journey Online, a highly anticipated title by Chinese gamers around the world that has yet to be released, adapted from the 13-year old classic online PC game New Westward Journey Online II, one of NetEase’s flagship titles. NetEase is actively working to increase awareness of traditional Chinese culture around the world and looks forward to market reaction to Westward Journey Online.
About NetEase
NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) is a leading Internet technology and video game company headquartered in China. With a breadth of experience in content creation and sharing, NetEase develops and operates some of China’s most popular online games (including World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™, StarCraft®II, Heroes of the Storm™ and Diablo®III), e-mail services, advertising services, mobile applications and games, and web portals. The company has recently established a US office, with plans to expand their offerings by releasing mobile games for Western audiences. For more information, please visit: http://ir.netease.com/.
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Jim Reilly
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