Move aims at filling the Arabic content gap and growing a whole new online gaming community in the region
MBC Group recently partnered with CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA),and a global market leader in online gaming and distribution based in China, to develop and launch the world’s first Arabic online gaming web portal which will include a portfolio of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, in both English and Arabic.
“This is a really exciting project for us as it comes as one of the initial steps in our overall strategy of leading the region towards digital and media convergence. CDC Games was a natural choice as a strategic partner because of their great experience in game development and market development,” said Sam Barnett, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of MBC Group. “Online gaming represents a huge proportion of broadband internet use around the world but the Middle East still lags behind due to the lack of quality Arabic content and customized applications customized for the region’s audience.”
“We are delighted to partner with MBC Group, the region’s uncontested media leader and a company that has unparalleled insight into the regional audience and consumer trends,” said Peter Yip, CEO of CDC Games. “We are confident that our experience in developing top quality online gaming products combined with MBC Group’s brand equity and regional expertise will lead to great synergies that promise to nurture and cater to a vibrant community of Arab online gamers.”
Online gaming has become a huge global industry with an estimated value expected to reach $13 - $15 billion by 2012. This progressive trend incites MBC Group to venture further in the online community, particularly in the Arab world.
About mbc Group
mbc Group was established in 1991 as the first pan-Arab free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World. Over the past 17 years, mbc group has grown to become a well-established media group that enriches people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment. Based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, mbc Group includes 6 television channels: mbc1 (general family entertainment), mbc2 (24-hour movies), mbc3 (children’s entertainment), mbc4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies), and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); two radio stations: mbc FM (Gulf music), and panorama fm (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit, and Middle East News agency (MEN), a news gathering agency. It has also several online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, and www.alaswaq.net.
About CDC Games
CDC Games is one of the market leaders of online and mobile games in China with more than 140 million registered users. The company pioneered the \"free-to-play, pay-for-merchandise\" online games model in China with Yulgang and launched the first free-to-play, pay for merchandise FPS (first person shooter) game in China with Special Force. Launched in July 2007, Special Force has consistently ranked in the Top 10 downloaded games in China and becoming the top revenue producer for CDC Games. Currently, CDC Games offers six popular MMO online games in China that include: Special Force, Yulgang, Shaiya, Mir III, Shine and Eve Online. In March 2007, the company announced the formation of CDC Games Studio to establish strategic relationships with selected games development partners to accelerate the development of new, original online games for China and other targeted global geographies. Through its CDC Games International (CGI) subsidiary, the company launched a long-term strategy to be a global publisher of MMO games. As part of this long term strategy, CDC Games launched the www.12FootTall.com portal to showcase online games and related content in North America. For more information on CDC Games, visit: www.cdcgames.net.
About CDC Corporation
The CDC family of companies includes CDC Software focused on enterprise software applications and services, CDC Games focused on online games, and China.com focused on portals for the greater China markets. For more information about CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), please visit www.cdccorporation.net.
