with South Korean online game developer Hyundai Digital Entertainment
Co. to jointly develop an online game.
CTRacer, a multiplayer online racing game, has already attracted more
than 3.5 million users in South Korea since Hyundai Digital began the
service on a trial basis in March 2003. The game, designed for
personal computers, allows up to 5,000 users to play simultaneously on
one computer server.
The game will begin regular commercial service in South Korea in June.
The date of Japan launch has not been set, a Sega spokesman said, but
the two companies aim to start sales sometime in 2004.
Sega expects to double the number of users in South Korea to 7 million
within about a year after the service launch, but there is still no
user target for Japan.
The companies didn't release a sales target for the service.
Through the alliance, Sega will help Hyundai improve the game's
quality. Hyundai Digital will reorganize its development structure and
focus on localizing games' contents and joint game development.
The two companies have also started negotiating with local online game
operators to license the game in Taiwan and China, but the timing of
the service's launch in these countries hasn't yet been set, Sega
said.
Sega also said the two companies eventually aim to market CTRacer in
Europe and the U.S.
-By Michele Yamada, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2955;
-Edited by John Gibson