gameshogun™

Level Up! Inc. and IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Signs Merger

2012-02-14T23:11:40-08:00

Four days ago, I shouted about a “huge news in the Philippines Gaming industry coming this week“. This was the merging of Level Up! Inc. and IP E-Game Ventures, Inc., or as is known by the gaming community as Level Up! Philippines and e-Games Philippines.

Level Up! Inc. and IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. is merging their online game service businesses together making them the largest game service provider in the Philippines.

e-Games Philippines will be transferring their titles to Level Up! Philippines, in exchange, the company will receive Level Up! Inc. equity, a commercial interest in PlayWeb Games, Inc. (the game publisher and operator of all Level Up! Inc. game titles and services), and a cash consideration.

E-Games is the first listed online gaming company in the Philippines (PSE: EG) and is the only such listed company to date. It spearheaded the free-to-play game model and has over 15.9 million registered gamers and an average of 3.5 million active users per month. It is aggressively expanding its Internet café network through acquisitions (Netopia and CyBr cafés) and franchising and will incorporate other services such as food & beverage and remittance services.

Recently, e-Games has also acquired the rights to operate and sell advertisements for the NBA.com Philippine portal. It is currently developing game enhancement technologies between its Internet cafés and online games titles and is eager to extend these synergies with Level Up! Inc. online games.

IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. is a listed online gaming subsidiary of IP Ventures, Inc. ("IPVG") and Level Up! Inc. ("LUI"). e-Games’ casual gaming unit is run by X-Play Online Games, Inc., a joint venture with GMA New Media, the digital arm of GMA Network. E-Games is today the largest Internet café operator in the Philippines, owning a 75% stake in Digital Paradise, Inc. ("Netopia"), and over 100 Internet café outlets Nationwide. Minority investors of the company are E-Store Exchange (an affiliate of GMA7) and the Philippine Star Group.

Level Up! Inc pioneered the online game business in the Philippines. Its parent company, Level Up! International Holdings, has a subsidiary in Brazil which likewise pioneered and leads the online game publishing business there. Aside from its presence in the Philippines and Brazil, LUIH also has a joint venture in the United States with an established Korean developer. And PlayWeb Games, Inc. is Level Up! Inc.’s game operator and publisher of all the company’s games in the Philippines.

The combined games line-up of the two companies that will be handled by PlayWeb Games, Inc. is:

Allods Online (Level Up! Inc.)
Audition Dance Battle (X-Play Online Games, Inc.)
Band Master (X-Play Online Games, Inc.)
Bounty Hounds Online (Level Up! Inc.)
Cabal Online (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)
Crazy Kart (Level Up! Inc.)
Flyff (Level Up! Inc.)
Freestyle (Level Up! Inc.)
Granado Espada (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)
Grand Chase (Level Up! Inc.)
K.O.S. (Level Up! Inc.)
Level Up! Global Games (Level Up! Inc.)
Perfect World (Level Up! Inc.)
Point Blank (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)
Ragnarok Online (Level Up! Inc.)
RAN Online (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)
RF Online (Level Up! Inc.)
Rohan Online (Level Up! Inc.)
Runes of Magic (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)
Sushi no Suki (Level Up! Inc.)
Zhu Xian Online (IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.)

Official websites:

IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.: egames.com.ph
Level Up! Philippines: levelupgames.ph
PlayWeb Games, Inc.: playwebgames.ph
X-Play Online Games, Inc.: xplay.com.ph

Shaiya Online Coming to Nexon America and Europe

2012-02-11T00:40:02-08:00

Shaiya Online, Choirock’s online games division was acquired by Nexon Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in free-to-play online games. The acquisition includes the MMORPG itself.

Shaiya Online, currently published in 16 countries worldwide, supports an online community that engages in a detailed, deeply entertaining storyline told through large scale battles containing up to 1,500 players fighting with another 1,500 players at once, and allows players to quest for more than 1,000 glories.

Nexon is planning to support the game’s already strong following in North America and Europe, as well as expanding Shaiya’s presence by leveraging Nexon’s global resources.

Nexon North America is currently hosting 8 free-to-play online games: [1] Dragon Nest; [2] Vindictus ("Mabinogi: Heroes"); [3] MapleStory; [4] Sudden Attack; [5] Combat Arms; [6] Mabinogi; [7]Dungeon Fighter Online; and [8] Atlantica Online. With 3 Facebook games: [1] MapleStory Adventures; [2] Zombie Misfits; and [3] Wonder Cruise.

LFG: League For Gamers Founded

2012-01-20T20:40:01-08:00

Red 5 Studios, the guys behind the much-awaited Massively Multiplayer Third-Person Shooter (MMOTPS) game Firefall founded League For Gamers ("LFG") that will stand as the opposition to bills that can harm the industry and the community.

This has been prompted after the Entertainment Software Association ("ESA") and the Video Game Voters Network ("VGVN") showed strong support for SOPA and PIPA. ESA is also the guys behind the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3, which Red 5 Studios backed-out from in protest.

LFG also happens to stand for the online gamer term “Looking for Group” which encompasses LFG’s lifelong mission to gather gamers and developers together in a mission to promote games in a positive way, spread the passion of gaming, and protect gaming interests in politics. LFG’s most recent goal is the opposition of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP), which LFG feels is misguided and overbearing legislation which would not only fail to protect IP rights for developers, but would also have a chilling effect on free speech, live streaming, e-Sports, gaming innovation and user created content.

Source: Who Are We?

Current members of LFG are (as of January 21, 2012):

Red 5 Studios
Razer
Night Owl Games
and countless of gamers

To the game developers, if you agree that SOPA and PIPA will harm the industry, the community, your business, better join League For Gamers and show your support.

To the gamers who were big supporters of the Video Game Voters Network and you were disappointed with their stance, there is now a group for you and me that will stand against moves that will harm all of us. LFG.

LFG is LFG. So join now!

Official Website: LeagueForGamers.org

Diablo III Opening Cinematic Revealed!

2012-01-07T02:00:02-08:00

Official Google+ Page Now Available!

2011-11-30T22:27:35-08:00

You can now follow us on Google Plus! Just click on the G+ icon on your left or click this link: plus.google.com/112711210225185050816.

That simple! Don’t forget to +1 our G+ Page!!

First Open-World Real-Time RPG on Facebook Now Online

2011-11-03T23:49:29-07:00

Gunshine.net, developed by Supercell, is a free-to-play social role-playing game that runs directly in your browser – no download required. The game has been designed to be played together with friends – including Facebook. And today marks the day when Gunshine.net goes final and out of beta!

Gunshine.net takes place in Dawnbreak City, an artificially created island that is ruled by an evil megacorporation called Labycore. Labycore and its leader, Sid Lovens, attract visitors to the island by promising liberty and opportunity. The harsh reality becomes clear only when you land on the island.

Invite your Facebook friends!

You can invite up to three friends to join you in kicking the bosses of Dawnbreak City. And what’s more, if they are not online, you can sort of borrow their characters by letting an AI (Artificial Intelligence [or bot to be exact]) to play for them, emulating their play style while you, yes you! decide their overall tactics.

Neat eh?

You can start playing by visiting the official Facebook page at: facebook.com/gunshinenet, or if you don’t have FB, play via the official website: gunshine.net.

MechWarrior® Online Launching Free-to-Play 2012

2011-11-30T22:42:57-08:00

Piranha Games and Infinite Game Publishing announced today that the popular BattleTech® franchise MechWarrior® Online™ is going to be free-to-play and will launch sometime in 2012!

Set in the BattleTech® Universe, in a different timeline, MechWarrior® Online™ will plunge mech pilots into the year 3049 where the world is ravaged by wars - in first-person perspective.

Currently, confirmed Mech designs are Atlas, Hunchback, and Jenner. We can expect more designs to be announced in the coming months, and for sure, mech fans will look forward to seeing their favorite designs come back to life. Of course, MechWarrior won’t be complete without factions, or in BattleTech terminology – the Great Houses. These will serve as the factions pilots have to align themselves with.

Here are some concept art currently available from the official website: mwomercs.com.

Power Rangers Online First Game Trailer

2011-10-29T03:18:14-07:00