PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robot Entertainment today announced a strategic partnership with Tencent Games to bring ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED™, the upcoming fast-paced online action game in the award-winning Orcs Must Die! franchise, to the Greater China Region. Through the collaboration, Tencent will publish the highly anticipated PC title as a “Tower Defense Online Battle Arena” (TOBA). China is the third publishing territory to be announced for ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED, following North America, where it will be published by Robot Entertainment, and Europe, where it will be published by GameForge.
The significance of the agreement is magnified by China’s growing importance in the expanding global PC gaming market, which took in over $13B in 2013 and represents the single largest gaming platform. In 2014 there will be 245 million Chinese PC online players, and forecasts show the PC online games market in China to double in revenue from 2013 to 2018.
“We believe the innovative gameplay of Orcs Must Die! Unchained will open a new category in our portfolio of Western titles for the expanding Chinese online gaming market—and as the leader for gaming in China, our focus is on bringing players the very best games and best experiences,” said Steven Ma, Senior VP of Tencent Games. “The combination of Robot Entertainment’s proven creative abilities and Tencent’s operating experience will be a win-win deal for our two companies and for gamers across Greater China.”
ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED is a fast-paced online action game in which teams of heroes battle head-to-head to attack and defend ancient strongholds. For the first time in Orcs Must Die!, teams of players are responsible for both sides of the battle—building traps to stop the enemy assault AND summoning their own armies to lead against the enemy defense. Through this innovation, which combines Tower Defense and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena gameplay elements, Robot Entertainment created a new kind of game experience.
“Orcs Must Die! Unchained expands the Orcs Must Die! world with a wicked fun mix of third person tower defense and multiplayer gameplay, and Robot Entertainment is eager to deliver this new experience to even more players around the world,” said Robot Entertainment CEO Patrick Hudson. “China is a massive and growing market, and we are thrilled to partner with the leading publisher in China, Tencent Games, to further extend our global reach.”
The localized version of ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED published by Tencent will include elements created with the Chinese market in mind including a Chinese hero ‘Mulan,’ Terracotta Warrior inspired characters and the Great Wall barrier traps, while future updates will have even more content created specifically for Chinese gamers.
In ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED, which is currently in closed Beta in North America and Europe, dozens of unique and powerful heroes offer deep gameplay options at all skill levels, and players can build an arsenal from an enormous variety of choices, customizing their strategy for every match. New heroes, weapons, traps, and minions are continuously added, and a player’s collection will never stop evolving.
ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED will be published in North America by Robot Entertainment, in Europe by GameForge, and in the Greater China Region by Tencent. The game supports up to 10 players (5 vs 5 multiplayer). Currently in development, ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED will be available as a free digital download on PC in 2015. For more information about ORCS MUST DIE! UNCHAINED, visit http://www.OrcsMustDie.com, or follow the game on Facebook and Twitter.
Supporting Assets:
To download supporting assets for today’s announcement, please visit: https://app.box.com/OMDUTencent
The Orcs Must Die! Series
Orcs Must Die! is an action-strategy game series that challenges players and their friends to team up and defend a world constantly under siege. The original Orcs Must Die! released to critical acclaim in October 2011, winning the AIAS Strategy Game of the Year. It was followed in 2012 by the co-operative sequel, Orcs Must Die! 2. Orcs Must Die! is currently available for download on Steam and the Xbox 360 Marketplace, and Orcs Must Die! 2 is available for download on Steam. For the first time in the history of the series, Orcs Must Die! Unchained finds players joining forces, forming teams of heroes to both defend against enemy attacks with traps while also laying siege to the opposing team’s defenses. The game will launch in 2015.
About Robot Entertainment
Based in Plano, Texas, Robot Entertainment is a world-class independent game development studio founded in 2009. With a team that has proven experience and expertise in creating games that appeal to massive audiences on multiple platforms, Robot Entertainment is focused on developing titles that set new standards for their respective genres as well as groundbreaking original intellectual properties. The studio has launched the critically acclaimed Echo Prime, Hero Academy, Orcs Must Die! and Orcs Must Die! 2. More information on Robot Entertainment can be found at http://www.RobotEntertainment.com.
About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information, seek entertainment, and shop online through its integrated platforms. Tencent's diversified services include QQ, Weixin and WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; and QQ.com for information.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2004. Tencent has been one of the 50 constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index since June 10, 2008, under stock code 00700. Tencent seeks to evolve with the Internet by investing in innovation, providing a hospitable environment for its partners, and staying close to its users.
For more information, please visit http://www.tencent.com/ir.
About Tencent Games
Tencent Games is the world’s leading online game publisher, and has the largest online game community in China. Believing in “create fun and happiness”, Tencent Games is dedicated to providing reliable, fun and professional interactive entertainment experiences to users.
