NetEase’s push from China continues with mobile strategy game Immortal Conquest

Chinese gaming company NetEase announced that the mobile strategy game Immortal Conquest will be its next release for Western markets. The mythology-based title will come out during the first quarter of 2017 for iOS and Android devices as a free-to-play app, and it could help NetEase extend its reach to markets outside of Asia and earn a bigger piece of the $36 billion mobile games market. The publisher has yet to have a major hit in the U.S., with none of its games currently in the top 100 iOS titles ranked overall in the U.S., according to App Annie. However, in the grossing category, the non-localized NetEase game Onmyogi is at the No. 38 spot.

“Immortal Conquest brings a strategy MMO to mobile in which players reign over their own kingdoms in a fantastical and far away land,” NetEase explained in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “Players share a common map where land and resources are limited — so the fight for control is on. Once one alliance claims ultimate victory, the map refreshes and the race for global domination begins again!”

Strategy games are popular on mobile, with titles like Clash of Clans, Mobile Strike, and Game of War: Fire Age being some of the most popular examples.

NetEase first opened up a division in the U.S. in 2015. The company also operates Blizzard’s games, including World of Warcraft and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, in China.