Chinese MMO Chi Bi Heading to Japan

I've been watching the movements of Beijing Perfect World with some interest; in comparison to some of the up and coming companies, they've certainly kept a reasonably low profile lately. Until, of course, they launched the 'international' version of their original MMO, Perfect World. Now they're eying another go with the Japanese market, bringing their Chi Bi ('Red Cliff') MMO to Romance of the Three Kingdoms-mad gamers. I've heard tell Perfect World will be releasing another of their games to the US market in the near future, and we can only hope that it's Red Cliff — I'm all about some classical Chinese fiction renovated for a 21st century audience. The Three Kingdoms gaming phenomenon is fascinating to me, and one that I hope to write on formally at some point in the not-too-distant future. Press release after the jump. BEIJING, Oct. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — Perfect World Co., Ltd. ("Perfect World" or the "Company"), a leading online game developer andoperator in China, today announced that it recently signed an agreement withC&C Media Company Limited ("C&C Media"), an online game operator in Japan, tolicense "Chi Bi," the Company's 3D massively multiplayer online role playing game ("MMORPG") based on the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, to the Japanese market. "Chi Bi" is Perfect World's fourth MMORPG licensed in Japan after "Perfect World II," "Legend of Martial Arts" and "Zhu Xian." "Chi Bi" has been popular with online game players since its launch inChina in early 2008 because of its unique system settings, aesthetic graphicdesigns and vivid representation of the history of the Three Kingdoms. The Company has since succeeded in signing agreements to distribute "Chi Bi" toMalaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries and regions. The recent launch of "Horseback Fighters," an expansion pack for "Chi Bi," has introduced newin-game experiences to online game players with its large number of updatesand exciting new content. Mr. Kensuke Chikaishi, President and Chief Executive Officer of C&C Media,said, "The Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history is not only famous in China but is also well known to many online game players in Japan. With its high quality, I believe 'Chi Bi' will be able to bring a memorable game experience to Japanese online game players. I'm confident that 'Chi Bi' willbe a success here in Japan given our good and long-time partnership with Perfect World." Mr. Michael Chi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Perfect World, commented, "We have a great long-term relationship with C&C Media and we arevery pleased to cooperate again on bringing 'Chi Bi' to Japanese online game players. We believe that C&C Media's proven experience in operating games in Japan will help make this release another success."