Kunlun Partners With Korean Government For $46M Online Game Developer Fund

Kunlun, which says it's China's second-biggest online game operator (by market share) after Tencent, is partnering with the Korean government and private investors to establish a $46 million investment fund for game developers. In December 2010 the company established its Korean arm with the launch of K3 Online, which has since attracted over 100,000 players, Kunlun says. The company expects 100,000 more by the end of this month. Within China, it claims a 20 percent market share and $187 million annual sales. But Kunlun -- itself a subsidiary of Brother Soft -- is also aiming for Western markets with a subsidiary called Koram Games, which claims 10 titles and almost 2 million subscribers. Half the company's total sales come from outside China. Subsidiary Koram's Western-facing games, all free-to-play browser titles, include Chronicles of Merlin, Clash of Kingdoms, Three Kingdoms Online, Indomitus and Dynasty Saga. "We are catching more and more attention from North American gamers now," says Joe Zhou, the manager of the company's English department. He says that after just four months, Chronicles of Merlin has developed 10 servers and over 200,000 subscribers.