House of Flying Daggers Online is a 3D MMORPG with a martial arts theme, based on the 2002 movie with the same name. Set back in the Tang Dynasty, the majority of the elements is drawn directly from the popular hit feature film with customized storylines and tones to fit an online game.
Toward the end of 2006, Shanghai Wan Xiang Group Co., Ltd., a key player in car manufacturing business, announced that they plan to invest $130 million to explore the domestic telecommunication value-added services and online gaming business. Half a year later, T2CN Information Technology has confirmed to take over Wan Xiang’s online game development team upon the car company’s withdrawal from the online gaming industry. T2CN also bought over the development and operation rights on “House of Flying Daggers OL” – the online game remake of the 2002 martial arts film – with almost $1 million.
The game will start public beta test this June, which indicates the secondary exploration of a domestically produced film properties will soon take off.
House of Flying Daggers is one of 21 online games that were selected for the Made in China Online Game Project, which was established by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) to promote domestic game development. GAPP is reportedly investing RMB 2 billion (app. US$250 million) in this initiative, which also involves setting up four national online gaming bases in Shanghai, Beijing, and the provinces of Guangdong and Sichuan.
Source: WorthPlaying
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