Big IT News!

Hi my apology for not able to blog past few days due to some work!

I have found some BIG IT NEWS today. First is a Gaming News!

Alibaba invested US$120M in Kabam

Kabam Inc is a Gaming company Founded by CEO, Mr Kevin Chou.

Kabam actually uses the World of War Craft Brand, Blizzard.

which has ingrained itself into popular culture right now. You cannot bring up a talk about mass multiplayer online games without World of Warcraft coming into the picture somehow.

Just like past Blizzard games,  The Game Hearthstone made by Kabam has found success worldwide. Professional gamers like Toby “TobiWan” Dawson and YouTube video celebrities like John “TotalBiscuit” Bain showcase their skills in the game on livestream, and there are major and minor tournaments done for the game in events like Dreamhack.

According to Kevin Chou, CEO, Kabam, the Alibaba investment will give the game company a lot more resources to distribute its games to China and Asia and “make an immediate impact.”

Kabam is known for creating mobile strategy games like Kingdoms of Camelot and The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth. Both these games have generated more than US$100 million in revenue; the company will focus on more games based on movie license properties like The Fast and the Furious franchise and The Hunger Games series.

Alibaba’s investment in gaming is the same tactic that Chinese online portal giant Tencent used previously. Tencent invested US$231 million in  Riot Games, the creators of popular multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends, and US$330 million in Epic Games, the folks behind action games like Gears of War and Unreal Tournament.

Kabam and Alibaba have yet to disclose any more information concerning the investment. It remains to be seen if Kabam will take extra steps in localising Kingdoms of Camelot for Chinese consumers and work together with Alibaba. Pitching a game using Arthurian legend as its theme can be a hard sell compared to a universal theme like Candy Crush Saga; it’s up to the popularity of Alibaba’s apps to bring in new Chinese players.

In a related news, Alibaba will have an initial public offering in September that will raise over US$20 billion for the company.

The investment will net the internet giant a seat on Kabam’s board and the rights to publish its mobile games in China (News found from Wall Street Journal) http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/07/31/alibaba-invests-120m-in-mobile-gaming-co-kabam-at-valuation-more-than-1-billion/)