Kabam is fulfilling a couple of strategic goals with the debut of its latest game today.
The publisher announced that it has launched the popular web game Wartune: Hall of Heroes in North America and Europe on mobile devices. It’s now available on iOS and Google Play as a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1498168,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']The role-playing/strategy helps expand the company’s third-party publishing efforts, so it can take advantage of its own mobile distribution network to make externally produced games more successful. This move is also connected to Kabam’s $50 million development fund for the Asian market. The publisher is using that money to invest in Asian developers to help them introduce their games in other parts of the world. Lastly, it’s a move to spread out to new kinds of popular games.
Wartune, where hundreds of players fight at once in a fantasy world, already generates $7 million in revenue per month from in-app purchases by gamers in English-speaking regions. The game became a top 10 grossing app after in launched in China. It features multiple modes such as solo campaign mode and player-versus-player modes ranging from three-person squads up to 30-member guild battles.
“Kabam is unique among the world’s mobile games companies in our ability to identify hit games in Asia that we adapt and make popular in Western markets,” said Kabam Publishing president Amit Ranade in a statement. “We expect Wartune: Hall of Heroes to be as significant a hit internationally as it has been in China.”
Wartune has been available for two years on the Web, including on Kabam.com. The previously published Asian web title comes from China’s 7th Road, while the mobile version is a joint development venture from 7th Road and Hoolai Games. Hoolai has licensed its rights for iOS and Android to Kabam for North America and major European countries.
San Francisco-based Kabam is a leader in the free-to-play, hardcore social game business in the West. It is valued at $700 million, based on recent investments, and it is targeting revenues of $550 million in 2014, compared to $360 million in 2013. It has more than 800 employees.
On mobile, Kabam also has published Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, Blastron, Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon, and Fast & Furious 6: The Game.
“At Hoolai Games, we have always been passionate about creating and developing quality, engaging games – no matter what platform it’s for,” said Xiang Lin, the vice president of international development at Hoolai Games. “Wartune: Hall of Heroes introduces a new experience that finally brings the scale of traditional PC-based strategy RPG gaming onto mobile. We are excited for the reception of the international audience and remain committed to pushing the technological limits of game creation.”
