Alibaba to invest US$120m in Kabam
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, August 2, 2014
China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group yesterday announced it was investing US$120 million in a US-based game developer and distributor.
In a move to ensure strategic partnership, Alibaba said it would publish and promote Kabam’s mobile games in China through its channels such as Taobao, Laiwang and Alipay. The games include The Hobbits: Kingdoms of Middle-earth and Fast & Furious 6: The Game.
The other two top Chinese dot-com giants, Tencent and Baidu, have also invested heavily in mobile game business by setting up mobile application stores or acquired mobile firms.
Baidu last year acquired mobile application store 91 Wireless for US$1.95 billion, while Tencent has China’s most popular mobile game platform thanks to its QQ and WeChat services.
As of June, China had 368 million mobile game users, accounting for 58.2 percent of the total mobile users. It was 54.7 percent at the end of 2013, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.
The “minority investment” from Alibaba will help Kabam lift Chinese game business in future, said Kevin Chou, Kabam’s chief executive.
Kabam, which now has a staff of 300 at its studio in Beijing, aims to generate at least 10 percent income from China within two years, compared with only 1 percent now, Chou said.
In 2013, Kabam’s revenue reached US$360 million globally. It expects to see that number touch US$500 million.
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