The9 Marks $100 Million For Mobile, Social Game Development

Chinese online game operator The9 has lost two major deals with Western publishers, and now is turning its resources to content creation, setting aside $100 million to develop mobile and social apps both domestically and abroad. The MMO publisher used to operate Blizzard's World of Warcraft in China, but the company transitioned WoW operations to rival NetEase, reportedly to earn a higher royalty rate. InsideSocialGames reports that the company will also end its rights to Electronic Arts' FIFA Online 2 in China. Facing such challenges, The9's been looking at migrating mobile. In July of this year it revealed it invested about $4 million in mobile social network company Aurora Feint, and now it's revealed it'll publish OpenFeint in China. The9 is joined on the new development fund with venture capital investors Chengwei Ventures, ChinaRock Capital Management, and China Renaissance K2 Ventures. Earlier this year the company also spent $20 million to acquire California MMO developer Red 5 Studios.