Officials from veteran Australian developer Auran Games (
Dark Reign: The Future of War ) have announced that the company has received an investment of AUD$4 million ($3.2 million) from China's CDC Corporation subsidiary CDC Games, which will be primarily invested in the development of Auran's upcoming online PC game
Fury.
Both companies look to benefit from the investment, with Auran using the funds to complete and better position
Fury as a prominent title in both the Eastern and Western markets, while CDC Games will enjoy certain rights to receive a percentage of revenues received from
Fury. With this investment, John Lee, president of CDC Games, also now serves on Auran's board of directors.
CDC Games recently announced an increase in its funding to $100 million as it continues to look for partners to help it become a market leader in both China and global online game markets. This is particularly relevant given that analyst firm DFC Intelligence
suggested in 2006 that the worldwide online game market is expected to exceed $13 billion in 2011.
The company recently announced an agreement to form a joint venture with Abandon Mobile to distribute mobile community game
Freaky Creatures, and also revealed an investment in Possibility Space, a developer of free-to-play online games. In late 2006, CDC Games announced its investment in Gorilla Banana, an online games developer from Korea.
Apart from
Fury, Auran is also currently developing an Xbox Live Arcade title based on hit sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica for Vivendi Games. The developer has also announced that its US
Fury distribution will be in conjunction with startup Gamecock Media. European
Fury partners are to be announced in the coming weeks.
“We see the skills, know-how and technology built up by Auran as truly world-class,” said John Lee, president of CDC Games, a newly appointed Auran Board Member. “Of the dozens of titles we have evaluated throughout the world,
Fury is one of the most competitive games not only for the West, but for the Asian markets as well.”
