OpenFeint, The9 Fund Five Android Ports

Mobile social gaming network OpenFeint and Chinese online gaming company The9 have revealed they will provide funds to mobile developers BulkyPix, Fishing Cactus, Duello Games, and Binary Mill to help these teams port their iOS titles to Android. Earlier this year, OpenFeint and The9 announced a partnership to offer funding to "top games" chosen for their quality, number of downloads, and developer ability, and these four developers are the first teams to be selected as recipients. The funding, which totals $100 million, will in part go toward five games across the four developers, with BulkyPix receiving funds for Pix'n Love Rush and Babel Rising, Fishing Cactus for Shift!2, Duello Games for iSlash, and Binary Mill for Mini Motor Racing. With this funding, these four developers will have the means to port their games to Android, and The9 will then localize the titles for the Chinese market and exclusively publish them in Mainland China. In addition, OpenFeint and The9 announced that three months after launch, their China-based mobile game platform The9 Game Zone now hosts 60 live games across 30 app stores in the region, with Western companies such as Glu Mobile, THQ, Handygames, HyperBees and Advanced Mobile Applications all working with the platform. OpenFeint and The9 first launched The9 Game Zone back in April to help western developers expand into the Chinese market.