Source – After announcing Tera and Mythos earlier this year, Frogster has secured another promising MMORPG project. OnRPG has it from good authority that the “secret” game in question is Magic World Online 2, Shanda’s new dark fantasy MMO. This game features a Diablo like style and the beta for this game in China starts later today.
The international publisher of massively multiplayer online games licensed the yet unnamed client-based fantasy MMORPG from Chinese games giant Shanda Games for North America and the whole of Europe (excluding Russia and CIS states). The signing of this license represents the largest cooperation between Shanda Games, which is one the leading online games developers and operators in the rapidly growing Chinese market, and a European partner so far.
The licensed MMO game project sets itself apart with its setting developed for Western audiences, and is based on the powerful Gamebryo-Engine that has already been used for role-playing hits such as Fallout 3. Frogster currently plans to launch the game in 2012 using the free-to-play business model with a free client download and game access. The game will be financed in the same way as Frogster’s very successful title ‘Runes of Magic’ through an item shop, where players are able to purchase virtual items and services.
“This deal with Shanda Games adds yet another prominent MMORPG project to our portfolio. By simultaneously licencing the game for North America and Europe, we made another step to establish as one of the leading MMO game publishers in the Western world,” commented Andreas Weidenhaupt, member of the executive board and Chief Licensing Officer of Frogster, on the signing of the license.
For more information about the game, you can find them here in my blog. The Open Public Beta for the China server will start in around 17 hours, so stay tuned as I prepare for a preview of the game (if I can get into the servers).
