Viet Son Net

Tencent (0700.HK) plans to begin open beta testing on its version of Giant Interactive’s (NYSE:GA) in-house developed 2D MMORPG ZT Online “Green Edition” on May 28, qq.com reported May 25.

The Tencent- and Giant- co-operated version of the game entered unlimted testing in January.

Tencent also plans to release “Always Be With You,” the seventh chapter of its licensed side-scrolling casual game Dungeon and Fighter, on May 27, according to a posting on the game’s official site on May 25. The chapter features new awakening systems, advanced maps and additional characters, said the posting. Tencent launched the game’s previous chapter on March 25.

Shanghai-based online game company Giant Interactive (NYSE:GA) recorded first quarter net income of RMB 185.52 million ($27.1 million), or RMB 0.79 ($0.12) per diluted share, down 20.1% year-on-year and 6.3% sequentially, the company reported May 18. Giant’s net revenues for the quarter came to RMB 304.4 million, with online game revenue accounting for 302.1 million, representing a decrease of 18.5% year-on-year but growth of 10.3% quarter-on-quarter, the report said. Giant attributed the quarterly increase to the recovery of its game ZT Online and increased contributions from its ZT Online: Green Edition.

Aggregate average concurrent users (ACU) for online games in the quarter was 588,000, up 21.2% quarter-on-quarter and 10.8% year-on-year, while aggregate peak concurrent users (PCU) increased 15.9% quarter-on-quarter and 2.5% year-on-year to 1.61 million, the report said. The company’s number of active paying accounts (APA) also increased 20.6% quarter-on-quarter and 11% year-on-year to 1.37 million, but average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped 8.5% sequentially and 26.6% annually to RMB 220, the report said.

Giant reported flat growth of net income in the final quarter of last year, at RMB 197.79 million.

Giant Interactive (NYSE:GA) plans to start closed beta testing of its licensed 2.5D fantasy MMORPG Xiantu Online on May 20, according to a May 6 posting on the game’s official site. The company will introduce new riding systems, tools and tasks in the game and will open three server groups the first day of the testing, said the posting.

The “green” version of Giant’s in-house developed MMORPG ZT Online recently recorded 468,510 peak concurrent users (PCU), climbing from 400,653 in March, the company announced April 24.

Shanghai-based online game company Giant Interactive (NYSE:GA) confirmed it will hold an “accounts buyback” promotion for players of its in-house developed MMORPG ZT Online in late April, sina.com.cn reported April 1. The promotion is expected to involve 1 million players with inactive accounts, said the report.

On April 21, ZT Online will celebrate its fourth anniversary since its open beta release, the report said. Giant started open beta testing of the “Green Edition” of ZT Online on March 12.

Giant Interactive (NYSE:GA) plans to begin open beta testing of the “green” version of its in-house developed MMORPG ZT Online in mid-March, 17173.com reported March 3 citing an unnamed source. Giant will add new playing modes to the game during the test, said the report.

Giant Interactive began final-round unlimited closed beta testing of the version on January 30.