Participants assume the roles of online characters that interact with other players while engaging in battle and other activities through multiple levels. New to this genre, is the revenue model whereby the game is free to download and play, but players purchase value-added, in-game services and assets, along with premium features that enhance the game experience.
"Securing the CrossFire rights is the next step in developing our online game portfolio," said Wojtek Kawczynski, SVP & GM of SilverBirch Studios. "Following our current success with Metin2, we are now pioneering use of the proven "free-to-play" model for FPS games."
"CrossFire has been a huge success in other operating regions such as China, Japan and Vietnam," said Howard He, CEO of G4Box, noting that the game achieved 62,000 concurrent users and more than 1 million subscribers in Vietnam just three days after the open beta test in that country launched, in March. "We look forward to replicating this success for the English-language version."
CrossFire has been selected as one of the PC titles to qualify the China team for the World Cyber Games (WCG) competition to be held in China next year. Other PC titles selected for the tournament include Warcraft III and Starcraft. The WCG tournament is the largest gaming event in the world. For more details, please visit: www.worldcybergames.com.
The English-language version of CrossFire is expected to begin generating revenue shortly after it goes live this fall, following open-beta testing.