According to a flurry of reports from China today, 1 of the nation’s biggest online games publisher and developer, is rumoured to be sold for around USD 525 million. That is of course Shanda Games, 1 of the subsidiaries under the Shanda umbrella. Both companies refused to comment.
To be more precise, Shanda Games is part of the USD 500 million package, which includes other subsidiaries such as Ku6 (a purchased video platform which never took off), Shanda Literature and a few other units. The buyer is rumoured to be Alibaba Group, a newcomer in the games industry.
Alibaba Group is China’s answer to Amazon, with the company valued at over USD 100 billion and recently moving into the gaming industry and the English market. It remains to be seen if Alibaba will accept the whole package, but once again, everything is just a rumour.
Shanda Games’ main recognition for the past few years was the purchase of Dragon Nest developer, Korean studio Eyedentity Games. It also has subsidiaries in Southeast Asia and South Korea, with Final Fantasy XIV expected to launch in China this year as well.
