Shanda Drops Online Board Game Copyright Lawsuit
DoNews, 1/06/11
Hangzhou Bianfeng, the chess and board game developer subsidiary of Shanda Interactive (Nasdaq: SNDA), has dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit against Hangzhou Quwan Digital Technology, possibly signaling Shanda's intention to acquire Quwan, according to one industry insider. Quwan VP Guo Weilong dismissed the idea, saying that Shanda has no capital investment in Quwan, although Quwan's "Board Game World" has joined the Shanda Online platform.
Regarding a possible acquisition, Guo said that Quwan has been in discussions with a number of investors and major online gaming firms regarding funding, but Shanda is not among them.
Quwan's business currently has three components: a web portal, an online board game platform, and offline desktop gaming products. Quwan plans to release a chess and card game platform as well as a mobile board game platform this year. Guo added that Quwan's offline desktop games have already broken even, while its two new products are not expected to generate revenue until commercial launch this year.
Editor's Note: Bianfeng had alleged that Quwan's "San Guo Zhan" is a copycat of Shanda's "San Guo Sha" online board game. For more background on this topic, please see "Shanda Bianfeng Sues Quwan for Copyright Infringement" MD 7/15/10 issue.
Keywords: online gaming Shanda Internet copyright SNDA Shanda Online San Guo Sha San Guo Zhan Bianfeng Software Hangzhou Quwan Digital M&A
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