Sega developing Shenmue Online, expanding into Chinese market

Publisher Sega is set to continue the critically acclaimed Shenmue series with a PC massively multiplayer title, Shenmue Online, as part of its new plans to enter the Chinese online gaming market.

The company has just established a branch office in Shanghai to facilitate this entry, and will be launching three PC online titles in China in the near future - Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst, CTRacer and Shenmue Online.

The new Shenmue title is being co-developed and co-published by Sega and Korean firm JC Entertainment, while the Chinese launch of the title, set for 2005, will be handled by T2 Technology. No international launch has yet been confirmed, but it seems highly likely given the popularity of Shenmue in other global territories.

Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst, a PC continuation of the Phantasy Star Online franchise which began on the Dreamcast, will be operated in China by Zarva Digital Entertainment; while CTRacer, a massively multiplayer racing title co-developed by Sega and Hyundai Digital, has already hit 3.75 million subscribers in its Beta form in Korea, and will be brought to China in partnership with Joyzone Networks.

Sega, like many other publishers, views the Chinese market as key to establishing a successful online gaming business. The territory, which is one of the fastest-growing markets for videogames and other forms of consumer electronics and digital entertainment, already has more than ten million online gamers.