Shanda Closes 2 MMOs Pending Handover to Tencent
Netease Games, 5/31/11
Chinese online game developer and operator Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME), a subsidiary of Shanda Interactive (Nasdaq: SNDA), announced today that it will cease operating its licensed MMORPGs Lineage and Lineage II within 60 days in preparation for the games to relaunch under rival game operator Tencent (0700.HK). Registration and recharge services will close on June 1, followed by a complete shutdown within 60 days. Shanda said it will announce a final date for the games sometime soon. In early March this year, Shanda Games removed Lineage II from its list of operated games.
According to Shanda, player data will be transferred to a new operator, and remaining stored credit will be refunded to players.
Tencent confirmed today that it will take over as the new operator of both Lineage and Lineage II, and has set up a new official website and microblog in preparation for the handover. Tencent said it will finalize operations allowing users to tether their QQ accounts to the games in June, and has already begun the process of transferring data for the games.
Editor's Note: Lineage and Lineage II were developed by Korea's NCSoft.
Keywords: operating rights Lineage Lineage II Shanda Shanda Games Internet Tencent SNDA 0700.HK licensed game online gaming GAME MMORPG NCSoft
Sending
