Inside Perfect World Entertainment

North American gamers probably aren’t too familiar with Perfect World Entertainment, beyond their association with Runic Game’s Torchlight and the handful of Asian MMOs the company is trying to bring to North America. But this seemingly small MMO company is really quite big in China and analysts that pay attention to the sector (and like to invest money) have got their eyes all over Perfect World, despite its challenges - in China, of course.

Perfect World Co. Ltd. went public roughly 4 years ago and has beaten earnings estimates for most of its existence, carving out its own little niche in the lucrative online gaming space in China. Perfect World is no small player either, with a $2 billion market capitalization and a long-term plan to have a global presence - hence its North American and European operations. In the latest quarter the company raked in $86.4 million in revenue, compared to $55.9 million the same quarter last year. That’s pretty amazing for a company most North American gamers know nothing about.

But the company, like many others that have a business model that relies heavily on the lucrative Chinese MMO market, faces some serious challenges. Those challenges include government oversight and possible censorship of content, a rather crowded field of competitors (CDC Games, Shanda Games, The9, NetEase, etc.) and an unknown level of growth in China. Here and in places like Europe it faces the challenge of getting Western gamers interested in MMOs that are decidedly Asian in style. One secret weapon the company has is the upcoming Torchlight MMO, which will also serve the Chinese market if it can get by the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

In North America the company has 3 free-to-play MMOs in operation (Ether Saga Online, Perfect World International, and Jade Dynasty) as well as Runic Games single player action RPG, Torchlight. You can learn more about the company and all these games by visiting perfectworld.com.

Torchlight two-hour trial released

Perfect World Entertainment is offering a two-hour trial version of Runic Game’s excellent action-RPG, Torchlight. After trying out the game for a few hours, players will then be prompted to purchase the game for $19.99. I can tell you that you don’t need two hours with this game to know that it is a lot of fun and worth a mere $20, but for those that don’t want to believe me, you can grab the demo at torchlight.perfectworld.com.

If you need more proof, you can check out my ill-prepaired and executed review of the game.

Runic Games, Dungeon Masters: The Torchlight Interview, Part I

Runic Games first title, an action RPG called Torchlight, got a lot of buzz at the Penny Arcade Expo in Sept. and a lot of positive feedback from fans that were seeing it for the very first time. A month later the game is in its final stage of development as the team races towards its Oct. 27 release date. To understand the appeal of Torchlight, you need look no further than the gentlemen working on the game and their influences and past accomplishments. Collectively the small development team working on this game has worked on such titles as Diablo and Diablo II, the indie hit RPG FATE, and the now cancelled MMO Mythos. While that list of accomplishments might seem short, it’s also very impressive.

What I learned from talking to Runic Games co-founder and CEO Max Shaefer, Art Director Jason Beck and Runic Games co-founder Travis Baldree was that these influences are helping them to build a better game and later to build a perfect extension of that game with an MMO project. In part I of my interview with this trio I learn about the first fruits of their labors: Torchlight. Read on.

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Torchlight to be available via Steam at launch

When details emerged about Torchlight at the Penny Arcade Expo earlier this year, developer Runic Games and publisher Perfect World Entertainment said that the game would only be available via their respective web sites at launch. Apparently that has changed because today they announced that the RPG from the makers of FATE and Mythos will also be available on launch day via Steam. Torchlight will be Available on Steam Beginning October 27, alongside the Runic Games and Perfect World Entertainment web sites. Obviously all involved are excited about the deal.

“It’s important for us to make Torchlight as widely available as possible. Steam is an enormous outlet that many players use exclusively – we’re big fans ourselves – so we are really happy that it will be on Steam starting day one,” said Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer.

Good deal for Steam users. Find out more about the game by visiting www.torchlightgame.com.

The Rundown: Dec. 4, 2008

All the news that fit to print, but not quite strong enough to stand on its own. Sorry kids, the truth hurts. Updated all day long..

Remains of the Day

GOG.com (Good Old Games) is offering several decent promos for those looking for some classic gaming fixes at an affordable price. Going on now until Dec. 8, when you buy two $9.99 games, you can get a $5.99 game free. The classic gaming site has also added Arx Fatalis, Jagged Alliance 2, and Disciples 2 this week. While their library is pretty sparse now, I’m hoping these cats succeed in bringing classic, DRM-free gaming to the masses for years to come..

Sega launches PlaySEGA, a completely free gaming and social networking site. The site offers games like Brain Assist, Ice Shuffle, Hollywood Adventure Quiz and Aquatic Word Burst. A VIP version of the site is coming “soon” and will give players willing to pay a small fee original games and classics like Columns, Puyo Pop, Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic The Hedgehog and Super Monkey Ball Tip n’ Tilt. check it.

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