The9 Signs $35mil Huxley Agreement For China

As previously reported on Gamasutra, Korean developer Webzen has officially announced that it has sold Chinese rights to its MMO Huxley to major operator The9 for $35 million. According to the company, the new $35 million agreement marks the largest export license in the history of Korean online game developers when additional profit sharing such as revenues and in-game ads are taken into consideration. The new deal marks, Webzen notes, the third such arrangement for Chinese operation with The9, following that operator's previous deals with MMOs MU and Soul of the Ultimate Nation, now in closed beta testing in China. Though a release date has yet to be decided for the Chinese market, the first person shooter MMO is scheduled for a PC launch in Korea later in 2007. “With this first deal in China, we are confident that we will continue to have additional Huxley contracts in other territories around the world,” said Nam Ju Kim, chief executive officer, Webzen, Inc. “We expect that Huxley will emerge as a flagship title for WEBZEN, based on its high anticipation in Korea, China, the U.S. and other key markets.”