Lord of the Rings Online to Rule China

Lord of the Rings Online, the only MMO based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, is a subscription-driven online title, but it'll soon be heading into a market filled with free-to-play games.  CDC Games, which has more than 160 million users and 13 million active users in China, holds the exclusive distribution rights and expects to launch the game in China during the second half of this year. 

The Chinese version of Lord of the Rings Online will come with "significant changes" from the version launched in North America and Europe.  CDC Games will utilize its extensive knowledge of the Chinese market and research into local customer preferences to alter the game in various ways,  including an enhanced player versus player function. CDC is already encouraged by preliminary test data on the game so far, which has shown an activation rate of more than 80 percent during its closed beta test held earlier this year.

Make this free-to-play and you just might have a winner

"We are very excited about the anticipated launch of The Lord of the Rings Online in China,” said James Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc.  “With CDC Games’ expertise in the online game market in China and its first class marketing, online game gaming platform and support operations, we are confident of the long-term success of this game."

"CDC Games and Turbine have been strong and trusted partners through the process of localizing the game and adding major new content to appeal to the distinctive China market,” said Monish Bahl, CFO of CDC Games.  “We feel the estimated timing of this launch is a good opportunity in light of the current competitive environment in China, especially with the recent situation of certain popular foreign titles of this genre.  The closed beta test results for the game also are very encouraging evidence of the potential this game holds in the China market and we look forward to a commercial launch in the near future."

Lord of the Rings Online will no doubt face stiff competition from the leader in online subscription fantasy games: World of Warcraft. WoW is sort of an exception in Asia, where free-to-play is king. We'll be curious to see if Turbine and CDC keep it subscription-based or change the business model. Turbine itself has been pursuing free-to-play lately, particularly with its Dungeons & Dragons Online title.

Update: It appears we weren't far off on this one. A spokesperson for CDC Corporation has told IndustryGamers, "The initial launch will be a subscription based [model].  About  4 to six months after the launch, we plan to implement a hybrid model, where we will add some micro-transaction capabilities. We will see how the market responds to that before making adjustments to our planned hybrid model." Ultimately, we feel that CDC and Turbine will need to swing the model much more in the direction of free-to-play if they want to succeed.